SKETCH  OF  BRIDGE  AT  HUY,  BELGIUM. 


THE  PERCIPIENT'S  IMPRESSION* 


A    TELEPATHIC    EXPERIMENT. 

Telepathic  H*lluci»aticns] 


JSee  p.  65 


TELEPATHIC 
HALLUCINATIONS : 

The  New  View  of  Ghosts 


BY 

FRANK  PODMORE,   MA.. 

'I 

Author  of  "Mesmerism  and  Christian  Science" 
11  The  Naturalisation  of  the  Supernatural,"  etc. 


NEW  YORK 

FREDERICK  A.  STOKES  COMPANY, 
PUBLISHERS. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

I. — SOME  RECENT  GHOST  STORIES 1 

II. — GHOSTS  AS  HALLUCINATIONS       24 

III. — THE  PEDIGREE  OF  TELEPATHY 38 

^  IV. — THE  EXPERIMENTAL  BASIS         47 

V. — COINCIDENT  DREAMS         68 

VI. — SPONTANEOUS  TELEPATHY           ...         ...  80 

VII. — EXPERIMENTAL  GHOSTS 90 

VIII. — GHOSTS  OF  THE  DEAD  99 


vn. 


280863 


Telepathic  Hallucinations  : 

THE  NEW  VIEW  OF  GHOSTS. 


CHAPTER  I 

SOME    RECENT    GHOST    STORIES. 

Do  YOU  believe  in  Ghosts  ?  Most  educated  men 
nowadays,  it  may  be  anticipated,  would  answer,  No. 
A  majority,  or  at  lowest,  a  substantial  minority  of 
educated  Europeans,  at  any  date  within  the  last  two 
hundred  years,  would  probably  have  given  a  similar 
answer  had  the  question  been  put  to  them.  But  by 
the  greater  number  of  the  human  race  at  the  present 
day,  and  by  learned  and  unlearned,  civilised  and 
uncivilised  alike,  at  any  previous  period  in  the  world's 
history,  an  answer  would  unhesitatingly  have  been 
returned  in  the  affirmative.  In  fact  the  belief  in 
ghosts  has  been  so  widespread  that  it  may  almost  be 
claimed  as  universal.  The  very  conception  of  a 
future  life  is  intimately  bound  up  with  the  belief: 
it  has  left  its  traces  on  all  the  religions  in  the  world. 
The  elaborate  arrangements  for  embalming  the  dead 
amongst  the  Egyptians,  the  offerings  to  the  dead 
which  formed  part  of  the  funeral  ceremonies  in  early 
civilisations,  and  are  still  found  throughout  a  great 
part  of  the  world  at  the  present  day,  are  obviously 
associated  with  the  belief  or  at  least  the  hope  of  the 
survival  of  a  quasi-material  soul — a  soul  having  form 
and  substance,  appetites  and  desires.  Among  the 
Egyptians  the  soul  which  was  weighed  in  the  balance 
and  found  wanting  was  doomed  to  be  devoured  by 
the  Eater  of  the  Dead.  The  Homeric  ghosts  were 
thin  squeaking  shadows,  anaemic  extracts  of  the 
heroes  whose  names  they  once  bore,  thronging  to 

1 


-2  .     THE  NRW  VIEW  OF  GHOSTS 

the  smell  of  blood.  We  find  the  same  idea  in  the 
once  general  terror  of  vampires,  and  in  the  part 
traditionally  played  by  freshly  shed  blood  in  the 
ceremonials  of  black  magic.  Plato  makes  Socrates, 
in  this  no  doubt  reflecting  the  current  belief  of  his 
day,  speak  of  the  soul  of  the  sensual  man  as  prowling 
in  visible  shape  about  tombs  and  sepulchres.* 
Milton  testifies  to  the  same  belief  in  his  day. 

"  Such  are  those  thick  and  gloomy  shadows  dank 
Oft  seen  in  charnel  vaults  and  sepulchres, 
Lingering  and  sitting  by  a  new  made  grave 
As  loath  to  leave  the  body  that  it  loved." 

The  Scotch  alchemist,  Maxwell,  adopts  the  same 
belief  and  essays  a  scientific  explanation  of  the 
facts.t  /  In  mediaeval  art  the  soul  is  constantly  repre- 
sented as  a  mistlike  semi-transparent  figure  in  the 
shape  of  the  body,  which  issues  from  the  mouth  of 
the  dying  man  to  hover  over  the  corpse,  until  it  is 
borne  away  to  its  appointed  place./  A  similar  con- 
ception of  the  soul  as  having  Bodily  form  runs 
through  all  poetical  speculations  on  the  after  life, 
from  Dante  to  Tennyson. 

If  we  consider  existing  beliefs  amongst  the  more 
primitive  races  we  find  the  same  conception.  The 
Australian  cuts  off  the  right  thumb  of  his  dead  enemy 
that  he  may  be  unable  to  throw  a  spear  in  the  Spirit 
world;  the  Congo  Negroes  refrain  from  sweeping 
the  house  after  death  lest  the  dust  should  injure  the 
ghost. t  The  souls  of  his  departed  friends  visit  the 
savage  in  dreams.  His  conception  of  a  future  life 
is  mainly,  perhaps  wholly,  based  on  these  dream 
visitations.  We,  the  inhabitants  of  educated  Europe, 
have  learnt  under  the  guidance  of  science  to  look/ 
upon  dreams  as  simply  the  creations  of  our  own/ 
imaginations.  We  no  longer,  in  the  popular  phrase, 
"  believe  in  dreams."  But  both  savage  and  civilised1 
men  from  the  earliest  historical  times  down  to  the 
present  have  professed,  and  still  profess  occasionally, 

*  Phcedo,  81.  t   De  Medicina  Magnttica. 

£  Tylor  Primitive  Culture  (1873),  vol.  I.,  pp.  451.  454« 


SOME  RECENT  GHOST  STORIES  3} 

to  see  figures  of  their  dead  friends,  not  in  dreams  \ 
but  in  waking  life,  with  their  own  eyes  open.     It  is 
these  daylight  apparitions  for   which  the   name   of 
"  ghosts  "  is  now  commonly  reserved,  and  in  view  of* 
the  important  part  played  by  them  in  religious  belief, 
from  the  earliest  times  down  even  to  the  present  day, 
the  enquiry  into  their  nature  and  significance  must 
needs  be  of  serious  interest. 

But  before  we  ask  what  ghosts  are  we  must  en- 
deavour to  find  an  answer  to  the  previous  question — 
whether  in  fact  there  are  ghosts.  We  must  first 
ascertain  the  facts.  To  most  persons  no  doubt  a 
ghost  is  like  a  sea  serpent — something  which  some- 
body hears  that  somebody  else  has  seen,  or  thinks 
that  he  has  seen,  a  long  way  off  or  a  long  time  ago. 
We  distrust  the  tales  of  the  sea  serpent,  because , 
they  proceed  for  the  most  part  from  an  uneducated 
and  proverbially  credulous  class ;  because  we  rarely? 
get  them  from  the  actual  witness ;  because  when  the 
incident  is  told  at  first  hand  we  generally  find  that  it 
happened  many  years  ago.*  But  apart  from  the 
defects  in  the  evidence,  which  may  or  may  not  be? 
accidental,  there  is  one  special  reason  for  distrusting 
these  stories.  The  sea  serpent  is  a  familiar  figure 
in  folklore  and  mythology  ;  he  has  come  down  to  us 
from  the  childhood  of  the  world.  As  Dragon, 
Kraken  or  Behemoth,  he  is  indelibly  painted  on  the 
imagination  of  the  race.  From  old  travellers  we 
hear  of  him  guarding  his  horrid  den  in  untrodden 
recesses  of  the  Alps ;  in  old  maps  we  may  see  him 
corkscrewing  his  scaly  folds  through  the  wastes  of 
uncharted  seas.  We  suspect,  therefore,  and  are 

*  The  most  instructive  sea  serpent  story  which  I  have  come  across 
was  told  by  a  well-known  literary  man  in  a  letter  to  the  Times,  6th  June, 
1893.     The  writer  had  received  in  1851  a  description  of  the  monster  from 
a  lady  who  had  watched  it  disporting  itself  in  a  small  bay  on  the  coast  of 
Sutherlandshire.      But   the  writer  had   something  more   to  tell.      He 
himself  searched  the  rocks  and  found  some  of  the  serpent's  scales,  as  big 
as  scallop  shells.     For  many  years  he  preserved  these  unique  relics;  but, 
alas,  when  he  wanted  to  exhibit  them  to  Sir  Richard  Owen, 
"They  were  gone  as  the  dew  of  the  morning, 
They  were  lost  as  the  dream  of  the  day!" 


4  THE  NEW  VIEW  OF  GHOSTS 

probably  justified  in  suspecting  an  hereditary  pre- 
disposition on  the  part  of  our  ignorant  sailor  to 
interpret  floating  driftwood,  a  basking  whale  or  a 
string  of  porpoises,  into  the  likeness  of  the  traditional 
monster.  To  justify  belief  in  the  sea  serpent 
demands  evidence  of  quality  so  unexceptionable  as 
to  over-ride  the  adverse  presumption  derived  from 
this  innate  tendency. 

Now  all  that  can  be  urged,  a  priori,  against  the 

belief  in  the  sea  serpent  can  be  urged  against  the 

belief  in  ghosts — and  much  more.     There  is,  as  we 

have  seen,  no  belief  which  is  more  deeply  rooted  in 

the  past  life  of  the  race;  there  is  no  belief  which 

appeals   more   surely   to   the   popular   imagination. 

The  '  new  '  journalist  in  search  of  a  sensation  finds 

/nothing  better  suited  to  his  purpose  than  a  traditional 

\  ghost  story  brought  up-to-date,  and  furnished  with  a 

I  local  habitation.     And  ghost  stories  appeal  further, 

jas  we  have  seen,  to  the  inherited  religious  instincts. 

Many  for  whom  the  merely  marvellous  would  count 

for  little  seek  in  these  narratives  confirmation  of  a 

belief  in  personal  immortality. 

If  we  are  justified,  then,  in  our  suspicion  of  the^ 
sea  serpent,  we  are  doubly  justified  in  the  reluctant 
hearing  which  we  yield  to  ghost  stories.  Man,  as 
has  been  said  by  someone,  is  not  naturally  a  veridical 
animal.  It  is  not  in  fact  an  easy  thing  to  tell  the 
truth.  It  is  the  most  difficult  of  all  arts,  and  one  of 
the  latest  acquirements  of  the  most  civilised  races. 
There  are  in  the  first  place  defects  and  excesses  in 
narration  caused  by  self  interest,  or  by  the  dramatic 
instinct,  the  love  of  telling  a  good  story.  But  defects 
of  this  kind  are  generally  recognised  and  proportion- 
ately easy  to  guard  against.  The  real  danger  is 
more  subtle.  Not  only  our  memory  but  our  very 
acts  of  perception  are  shaped  by  our  preconceptions 
and  prejudices.  To  put  it  crudely,  what  we  see  and 
[  what  we  remember  is  not  what  actually  happened, 
but  what  we  think  ought  to  have  happened  or  what 
was  likely  to  have  happened.  The  retina  supplies 


SOME  RECENT  GHOST  STORIES  5 

•*> 

us  with  an  imperfect  photograph — a  crude  sensation. 
But  this  imperfect  photograph  is  not  "  perceived  " 
until  it  has  been  telegraphed  up  to  higher  brain 
centres,  and  it  is  the  business  of  these  higher  centres 
to  touch  up  the  photograph,  to  fill  in  the  lacunae,  to 
select  what  seem  the  more  salient  and  notable 
features,  and  to  colour  the  whole  with  the  emotion 
appropriate  to  the  situation.  It  is  likely  that  in  most ; 
cases  something  is  added  to  improve  the  picture.  / 
The  result  is  no  longer  a  photograph  but  a  finished 
work  of  art,  which  contains  at  once  more  and  less 
than  the  photograph — the  original  sensation.  This 
process  of  selection  and  embellishment  may  be 
carried  still  further  in  the  memory,  until  at  last  the 
finished  picture  may  come  to  bear  no  essential 
resemblance  to  the  original  retinal  photograph. 

In  matters  of  every  day  life  the  picture,  no  doubt, 
generally  serves  the  purpose  as  well  as  the  photo- 
graph— better  in  fact,  for  the  brain  artist,  if  he  has 
done  his  duty,  has  selected  only  those  features  which 
are  needed  for  retention,  and  blotted  out  the  rest. 
But  where  the  emotions  and  prejudices  are  deeply 
concerned,  another  principle  of  selection  is  intro- 
duced. The  sedulous  artist  works  to  please  his  patron 
— our  noble  self — and  he  is  apt  to  produce  a  picture 
intended  less  for  instruction  than  for  edification. 
This  is  something  more  than  a  parable.  It  is  an 
honest,  though  of  course  extremely  crude  and  inad- 
equate, attempt  to  express  in  psychological  terms  our 
actual  mental  procedure.  The  whole  process  is  of 
course  an  automatic  one,  and  could  be  alternatively 
expressed  in  terms  of  stimuli  and  nerve  reactions. 
But  the  essential  features  of  the  process  are  no  doubt 
easier  to  grasp  if  expressed  in  the  language  which  is 
to  most  of  us  more  familiar. 

Now  in  this  question  of  ghost  stories,  it  is  hardly 
necessary  to  say  again  that  there  are  potent 
influences  ceaselessly  operating  to  guide  the  process 
of  brain  selection — in  other  words  to  pervert  testi- 
mony, or  to  warp  it  to  predestined  ends.  We  are 


6  THE  NEW  VIEW  OF  GHOSTS 

bound,  therefore,  to  apply  the  most  stringent  tests 
to  the  tales  of  ghostly  apparitions.  To  begin  with, 
we  shall  require  that  every  ghost  story  must  be  told 
at  first  hand.  If  the  man  who  saw  the  ghost  is  dead, 
and  has  left  no  written  record  behind  him,  so  much 
the  worse — his  ghost,  for  all  evidential  purposes,  has 
perished  with  him.  Nor  can  we  in  matters  of  this 
kind  be  content  to  rely  upon  a  single  memory.  If  a 
man  tells  us  that  he  saw  a  ghost,  we  must  have  some 
evidence  that  he  thought  it  of  sufficient  importance 
to  mention  it  at  the  time  to  someone  else.  Again, 
whilst  not  rejecting  the  evidence  of  peasants  and  un- 
educated persons,  we  shall  by  preference  seek  for 
testimony  amongst  the  educated  classes,  as  having 
for  the  most  part  achieved  greater  proficiency  in  the 
difficult  art  of  telling  the  truth.  Again,  in  order  to 
give  the  memory  as  little  opportunity  as  may  be  for 
adding  its  finishing  touches  to  the  picture,  we  shall 
give  the  preference,  ceteris  paribus,  to  narratives 
committed  to  writing  within  a  short  period  of  the 
event  related;  and  we  shall  value  above  all  other 
testimony  that  of  diaries  and  contemporary  letters. 
Such  are  the  main  principles  which  must  guide  us 
in  our  search  for  evidence  of  ghosts.  Other 
principles  will  be  made  clearer  as  the  discussion 
proceeds.  But  there  is  one  other  point  which  should 
be  emphasised  at  the  outset.  The  stories  of  sea 
serpents  are  comparatively  speaking  few  in  number. 
That  of  course  constitutes  a  further  serious  defect 
in  the  case.  In  seeking  evidence  for  any  unusual 
phenomenon  we  must  have  regard  to  quantity  as 
well  as  quality.  Even  a  good  witness  may  be  mis- 
taken, or  there  may  be  some  unsuspected  cause  to 
give  rise  to  a  false  belief.  But  the  more  witnesses 
of  competence  and  good  character  are  multiplied,  the 
more  improbable  it  becomes  that  they  could  all  have 
been  mistaken,  or  that  the  circumstances  which  may 
have  deceived  them  will  have  escaped  recognition. 
It  is  important,  therefore,  for  the  reader  to  bear  in 
mind  that  the  narratives  cited  in  this  book  are  only 


SOME  RECENT  GHOST  STORIES  7 

samples,  chosen  from  a  much  larger  number,  and 
that  in  making  the  choice  I  have  necessarily  been 
guided  by  the  desire,  not  only  to  find  good  evidence, 
but  also  evidence  which  has  not  been  staled  by  fre- 
quent repetition.  Most  of  the  stories  printed  in  the 
book  will,  I  trust,  be  new  to  the  reader;  and  he  can  find 
some  hundreds  of  others  equally  well  attested  in  the 
publications  of  the  Society  for  Psychical  Research 
and  other  sources  upon  which  I  have  drawn. 

Here  then  are  a  few  of  what  may  be  provisionally 
called  "Ghost  Stories."  The  first  account  comes 
from  a  lady  who  has  had  two  or  three  similar 
experiences. 

No.  1. — From  Mrs.  Me  Alpine. 

Garscadden,  Bearsden,  Glasgow, 

12th  April,  1892. 

w  On  the  25th  March,  18^,  my  b-tsband  and  I  were  staying 
at  Furness  Abbey  Hotel,  Barrow-in-Furness,  with  a  friend  of 
ours,  the  late  Mr.  A.  D.  Bryce  Douglas,  of  Seafield  Tower, 
Ardrossan.  He  was  managing  director  of  the  *  Naval  Con- 
struction and  Armaments  Company,'  and  had  resided  at  Furness 
Abbey  Hotel  for  some  eighteen  months  or  more.  He  had  in- 
vited us,  along  with  a  number  of  other  friends,  to  the  launch  of 
the  Empress  of  China.  We  breakfasted  with  Mr.  Bryce 
Douglas  on  the  day  of  the  launch,  the  25th,  and  afterwards 
saw  the  launch,  had  luncheon  at  the  shipyard,  and  returned  to 
the  hotel.  He  appeared  to  be  in  his  usual  health  and  spirits 
(he  was  a  powerfully-built  man,  and  justly  proud  of  his  fine 
constitution).  The  following  day  (Thursday)  he  left  with  a 
party  of  gentlemen,  to  sail  from  Liverpool  to  Ardrossan,  on  the 
trial  trip  of  the  Empress  of  Japan  (another  large  steamer 
which  had  been  built  at  his  yard). 

"We  remained  on  at  the  hotel  for  some  days  with  our  son 
Bob,  aged  23,  who  was  staying  there,  superintending  work 
which  Mr.  McAlpine  was  carrying  on  at  Barrow. 

"  On  the  Monday  night,  the  30th,  I  went  upstairs  after  dinner. 
On  my  way  down  again  I  saw  Mr.  Bryce  Douglas,  standing  in 
the  doorway  of  his  sitting-room.  I  saw  him  quite  distinctly. 
He  looked  at  me  with  a  sad  expression.  He  was  wearing  a  cap 
which  I  had  never  seen  him  wear.  I  walked  on  and  left  him 
standing  there.  It  was  then  about  ten  minutes  to  eight.  I 
told  my  husband  and  Bob.  We  all  felt  alarmed,  and  we 
immediately  sent  the  following  telegram,  *  How  is  Mr.  Bryce 
Douglas?'  to  Miss  Caldwell,  his  sister-in-law,  who  kept  house 
for  him  at  Seafield.  It  was  too  late  for  a  reply  that  night.  On 
Tuesday  morning  we  received  a  wire  from  her ;  it  ran  thus :  *  Mr. 


8  THE  NEW  VIEW  OF  GHOSTS 

'  Bryce  Douglas  dangerously  ill.'  That  telegram  was  the  first 
intimation  of  his  illness  which  reached  Barrow.  As  will  be 
seen  in  the  account  of  his  illness  and  death  in  the  Barrow 
News,  he  died  on  the  following  Sunday,  and  we  afterwards 
ascertained  from  Miss  Caldwell  that  he  was  unconscious  on 
Monday  evening,  at  the  time  I  saw  him." 

Mr.  Robert  Me  Alpine,  junr.,  writes  as  follows  on 
April  4th,  1892. 

"  I  distinctly  remember  that  on  the  Monday  night  (30th  March, 
1891)  my  father  and  I  were  sitting  at  the  drawing-room  fire 
after  dinner,  and  mother  came  in  looking  very  pale  and  startled, 
and  said  she  had  been  upstairs  and  had  seen  Mr.  Bryce  Douglas 
standing  at  the  door  of  his  sitting-room  (he  had  used  this  sitting- 
room  for  nearly  two  years).  Both  my  father  and  I  felt  anxious, 
and  after  some  discussion  we  sent  a  telegram  to  Mr.  Bryce 
Douglas's  residence  at  Ardrossan,  asking  how  he  was,  and  the 
following  morning  had  the  reply,  *  Keeping  better,  but  not  out 
of  danger,'  or  words  to  that  effect.  I  can  assert  positively  that 
no  one  in  Barrow  knew  of  his  illness  until  after  the  receipt  of 
that  telegram." 

Mr.  McAlpine,  senior,  corroborates  the  statement 
made  by  his  wife  and  son ;  and  Miss  Caldwell  writes 
that  she  clearly  remembers  the  receipt  of  the  tele- 
gram and  her  surprise  at  receiving  it  "  as  I  did  not 
think  anyone  knew  he  was  so  ill."  The  landlady  also 
confirms  the  dispatch  of  the  telegram.* 

This  account,  it  will  be  seen,  was  written  just  a 
year  after  the  event.  But  Mrs.  McAlpine  had  sent 
a  brief  account  to  the  same  effect  on  the  7th  May, 
1891,  six  weeks  after  the  event.  In  any  case  it  is 
difficult,  in  view  of  the  decisive  corroboration  afford- 
ed by  the  telegram,  to  suppose  that  the  incidents  have 
been  seriously  misrepresented  by  defect  of  memory 
It  may  be  true,  as  indeed  appears  from  the  news- 
paper account  of  the  death,  that  Mr.  Douglas  had 
been  observed  by  some  of  his  friends  to  be  unwell 
on  the  Wednesday  before  his  departure  from  Barrow. 
But  it  seems  clear  that  the  McAlpines  felt  no  overt 
anxiety  on  his  behalf.  An  intimate  friend  of  Mr. 
Douglas  also  residing  in  Barrow,  Mr.  Charlton, 
testifies  that  he  was  quite  unaware  of  Mr.  Douglas* 
illness  until  the  Tuesday  morning  (31st  March)c 

*  Proceedings,  S.P.R.  vol.  x,  p.  27981. 


SOME  RECENT  GHOST  STORIES  9 

On  the  "  ghost  "  theory,  it  will  be  seen,  the  ghost 
was  that  of  a  living  man,  which  appears  to  have  left 
its  unconscious  body  in  order  to  warn  a  friend  of  the 
approaching  end. 

In  the  case  next  to  be  quoted  the  apparition  is  said 
to  have  been  seen  at  the  moment  of  death,  and  on 
the  "  ghost "  theory  we  may  suppose  that  the  spirit 
chose  the  moment  of  its  release  from  the  body  to 
pay  its  last  farewell.  But  the  account  was  not 
written  down  until  nine  years  after  the  event,  and 
though  we  may  no  doubt  place  some  reliance  upon 
it  as  regards  the  main  incident,  it  would  probably  not 
be  safe  to  build  too  much  on  the  alleged  exactness 
of  the  time  coincidence.  The  case  comes  to  us 
through  the  American  Branch  of  the  Society  for 
Psychical  Research. 

No.  2. — From  Miss  Gollin. 

130  Lafayette  Avenue, 
Brooklyn, 

Marcn  2nd,  1905. 

"  During  the  year  1896  I  was  employed  in  the  office  of  a  cer- 
tain newspaper  in  this  city.  On  Saturday,  the  25th  of  January, 
1896,  at  about  12-30  p.m.,  while  attending  to  my  work,  all  at 
once  I  felt  conscious  of  a  presence  near  me.  In  fact,  it  was 
just  the  same  feeling  one  has  when  some  one  is  intently  looking 
at  you,  and  you  feel  an  inclination  to  turn  to  see  who  it  is. 
This  feeling  was  so  strong  that  I  turned  almost  involuntarily, 
and  there  at  the  back  of  my  chair,  but  a  little  to  one  side,  I  saw 
the  full  figure  of  a  young  man  with  whom  I  was  well  acquainted 
— in  fact,  engaged  to  marry.  (I  wish  to  state  here  that  this 
young  man  had  never  been  in  this  office.)  The  figure  was  very 
distinct.  In  fact,  it  was  all  so  plain  that  I  felt  the  young 
woman  sitting  next  to  me  must  see  it  also,  and  though  very 
much  overcome  and  not  understanding  it  at  the  time,  I  turned 
to  her  and  asked,  'Did  you  see  any  one  just  now  standing 
back  of  my  chair?'  She  replied,  'No,'  and,  of  course, 
wondered  why  I  asked.  I  did  not  explain  my  reason  to  her  at 
the  time  as,  though  she  knew  this  person  from  hearsay,  she  had 
no  acquaintance,  and  I  felt  she  might  think  me  foolish.  How- 
ever the  incident  is  perfectly  clear  in  her  mind  even  to  this  day, 
and  if  necessary  I  can  furnish  her  name  and  address.  In  fact,  it 
is  her  husband  who  prevailed  on  me  to  make  this  communication 
to  you. 

"  On  the  previous  Sunday  to  this  incident  I  had  been  at 
church  with  this  young  man,  and  he  was,  apparently,  in  very 


10  THE  NEW  VIEW  OF  GHOSTS 

good  health,  though  previously  he  had  been  ailing  somewhat, 
we  thought  from  overstudy,  as  he  was  just  completing  a  college 
course.  That  evening  after  our  return  from  church  he  made 
an  engagement  to  see  me  the  middle  of  the  week.  Instead  of 
seeing  me,  •  received  a  letter  from  his  sister  saying  he  had  a 
cold  and  might  not  come  to  see  me  until  the  end  of  the  week, 
but  that  it  was  nothing  serious.  I  wrote  back,  saying  that  as 
the  weather  was  so  bad  he  had  probably  better  not  try  to  come 
to  see  me  until  the  Sunday  following.  (That  week  we  had  a 
great  deal  of  wet  weather.)  I  heard  nothing  further  from  any 
member  of  the  family  and  fully  expected  to  see  him  on  Sunday. 
On  reaching  home  on  Saturday,  January  25th,  1896,  I  found  a 
telegram  waiting  for  me,  which  read  :  *  If  you  wish  to  see  W. 
come  at  once.'  I  did  not  reach  home  until  about  2  p.m.  I 
hurried  to  his  home,  and  on  arriving  was  told  he  had  died  about 
12-30.  It  was  a  case  of  typhoid  fever." 

In  a  later  letter  Miss  Gollin  explains  that  the  figure 
appeared  "  fully  dressed  in  a  black  suit  of  clothes." 

Mrs.  Burrows,  the  friend  referred  to,  corroborates 
as  follows : — 

179  Prospect  Park  W., 

Brooklyn,  N.  Y., 

29th  March,  1905. 

"  I  do  not  remember  the  exact  date  of  the  occurrence  she 
mentions.  I  remember  distinctly,  however,  that  we  were  sit- 
ting together  working  in  the  office  of  the  Evening  Post,  where 
we  were  both  employed.  Miss  Gollin's  chair  was  placed  at 
right  angles  to  mine,  so  that  anyone  approaching  ner  chair 
would  have  been  plainly  visible  to  me.  I  remember  her  asking 
me  if  I  had  noticed  a  man  standing  back  of  her  chair. 
As  she  said  this  she  was  in  the  act  of  looking  behind  her,  as  if 
expecting  to  find  someone  standing  there,  or  as  if  she  were 
conscious  that  someone  had  just  been  standing  there.  I  saw 
nothing  whatever  myself,  and  am  sure  that  no  one  in  the  flesh 
did  approach  her  chair  at  that  time.  I  told  her  I  had  seen  no 
one,  and  thus  the  incident  closed  for  the  moment. 

"  I  did  not  see  her  again  for  several  days,  when  she  told  me, 
that  on  arriving  home  she  had  found  a  telegram  stating  that 
her  fiance  was  dead.  Later  she  learned  the  hour  of  his  death 
corresponded  exactly  with  that  of  the  apparition  which  she  had 
seen  while  at  work."* 

In  the  next  two  cases  the  apparition,  which  was 
seen  some  hours  after  death,  conforms  more  nearly 
to  the  orthodox  conception  of  a  "  ghost " — a  discarn- 
ate  spirit.  The  first  case  was  originally  narrated 

*  Journal,  S.P.R.  May,  1908. 


SOMT?  RECENT  GHOST  STORIES  II 

verbally  to  the  late  F.  W.  H.  Myers  by  Lady  Gore 
Booth,  who  afterwards  wrote  to  him  the  letter  of 
which  an  extract  is  given  below,  and  at  a  later  date 
sent  the  two  subjoined  accounts  from  her  daughter, 
who  was  aged  fifteen  at  the  time  of  the  incident,  and 
her  son,  then  a  schoolboy  of  ten. 

No.  3. — From  Miss  Mabel  Gore  Booth. 

Lissadell,  Sligo, 

February,  1891. 

"  On  the  10th  of  April,  1889,  at  about  half -past  nine  o'clock 
a.m.,  my  youngest  brother  and  I  were  going  down  a  short  flight 
of  stairs  leading  to  the  kitchen,  to  fetch  food  for  my  chickens, 
as  usual.  We  were  about  half  way  down,  my  brother  a  few 
steps  in  advance  of  me,  when  he  suddenly  said :  *  Why,  there's 
John  Blaney,  I  didn't  know  he  was  in  the  house ! '  John 
Blaney  was  a  boy  who  lived  not  far  from  us,  and  he  had  been 
employed  in  the  house  as  hall-boy  not  long  before.  I  said  that 
I  was  sure  it  was  not  he  (for  I  knew  he  had  left  some  months 
previously  on  account  of  ill-health),  and  looked  down  into  the 
passage,  but  saw  no  one.  The  passage  was  a  long  one,  with  a 
rather  sharp  turn  in  it,  so  we  ran  quickly  down  the  last  few 
steps,  and  looked  round  the  corner,  but  nobody  was  there,  and 
the  only  door  he  could  have  gone  through  was  shut.  As  we 
went  upstairs  my  brother  said,  *  How  pale  and  ill  John  looked, 
and  why  did  he  stare  so?'  I  asked  what  he  was  doing.  My 
brother  answered  that  he  had  his  sleeves  turned  up,  and  was 
wearing  a  large  green  apron,  such  as  the  footmen  always  wear 
at  their  work.  An  hour  or  two  afterwards  I  asked  my  maid  how 
long  John  Blaney  had  been  back  in  the  house?  She  seemed 
much  surprised,  and  said,  '  Didn't  you  hear,  miss,  that  he  died 
this  morning  ? '  On  inquiry  we  found  he  had  died  about  two 
hours  before  my  brother  saw  him.  My  mother  did  not  wish 
that  my  brother  should  be  told  this,  but  he  heard  of  it  somehow, 
and  at  once  declared  that  he  must  have  seen  his  ghost." 

MABEL  OLIVE  GORE  BOOTH. 

The  actual  percipient's  independent  account  is  as 

follows : — 

March,  1891. 

"  We  were  going  downstairs  to  get  food  for  Mabel's  fowl, 
when  I  saw  John  Blaney  walking  round  the  corner.  I  said  to 
Mabel,  '  That's  John  Blaney ! '  but  she  could  not  see  him. 
When  we  came  up  afterwards  we  found  he  was  dead.  He 
seemed  to  me  to  look  rather  ill.  He  looked  yellow ;  his  eyes 
looked  hollow,  and  he  had  a  green  apron  on." 

MORDAUNT  GORE  BOOTH. 


12  THE  NEW  VIEW  OF  GHOSTS 

We  have  received  the  following  confirmation  of 
the  date  of  death : — 

"  I  certify  from  the  parish  register  of  deaths  that  John  Blaney 
(Dunfore)  was  interred  on  the  12th  day  of  April,  1889,  having 
died  on  the  10th  day  of  April,  1889." 

P.  J.  SHEMAGHS,  C.C. 
The  Presbytery,  Ballingal,  Sligo. 
10th  February,  1891, 

Lady  Gore  Booth  writes : — 

May  31st,  1890. 

"  When  my  little  boy  came  upstairs  and  told  us  he  had  seen 
John  Blaney,  we  thought  nothing  of  it  till  some  hours  after, 
when  we  heard  that  he  was  dead.  Then  for  fear  of  frightening 
the  children,  I  avoided  any  allusion  to  what  he  had  told  us,  and 
asked  everyone  else  to  do  the  same.  Probably  by  now  he  has 
forgotten  all  about  it,  but  it  certainly  was  very  remarkable, 
especially  as  only  one  child  saw  him,  and  they  were  standing 
together.  The  place  where  he  seems  to  have  appeared  was  in 
the  passage  outside  the  pantry  door,  where  John  Blaney 's  work 
always  took  him.  My  boy  is  a  very  matter  of  fact  sort  of  boy, 
and  I  never  heard  of  his  having  any  other  hallucination."* 

G.  GORE  BOOTH. 

It  will  be  noted  that  this  account  depends  for  its 
evidential  value,  not  on  the  memory  of  a  child  of 
twelve  of  events  happening  two  years  previously,  but 
on  the  memory  of  the  older  persons  who  heard  his 
account  of  what  he  had  seen  before  they  knew  of  the 
death  to  which  the  vision  related. 

The  next  case  is  of  a  more  dramatic  character. 
The  account  was  procured  for  the  Society  for 
Psychical  Research  by  Professor  Alexander,  of  Rio 
de  Janeiro.  In  the  first  half  of  November,  1904, 
there  had  been  some  popular  disturbances  in  Rio  de 
Janeiro,  which  culminated  on  the  14th  of  the  month 
in  a  revolt  of  the  Military  School.  The  School 
marched  out  on  the  evening  of  that  day,  under  the 
command  of  General  Travassos,  and  had  a  slight 
skirmish  with  the  police,  in  the  course  of  which 
Ensign  Joao  Sylvestre  Cavalcante,  a  young  man  in 
his  twenty-seventh  year,  was  shot  through  the  head. 
A  comrade  struck  a  match  and  looked  at  the  body 

*  Proceedings,  S.P.R.,  vol.  viii,  pp.  173-4. 


SOME  RECENT  GHOST  STORIES  13 

after  it  had  fallen.  "  The  poor  lad  lay  in  a  muddy 
gutter,  his  horse  dead  on  the  pavement  beside  him." 
This  was  at  a  few  minutes  after  1 1  p.m.  We  now 
quote  from  the  account  drawn  up  by  Professor 
Alexander  from  statements  made  to  him  by  the 
Rieken  family  and  signed  by  them. 

No.  4. 

"  Now  before  his  death  Cavalcante  had  become  engaged  to  a 
certain  Fraulein  Maria  Luiza  Rieken,  the  daughter  of  Herr 
Rieken,  a  thriving  military  tailor  established  in  this  city,  and  of 
Frau  Louise  Rieken.  The  family  lives  at  No.  20a  Rua  Barata 
Ribeiro,  Copacabana,  and,  as  the  fianc$  of  the  daughter, 
Cavalcante,  who  lived  close  by,  was  of  course  a  constant  visitor 
at  the  house,  and  was  accustomed  to  take  his  early  coffee  there 
before  proceeding  to  the  School.  On  the  morning  of  the  14th 
he  had  returned  at  9  o'clock  to  breakfast,  which  he  shared  with 
'  Mimi,'  as  the  young  lady  was  familiarly  called.  He  was  in 
good  spirits,  and  although  there  was  some  peculiarity  in  his 
manner  of  taking  leave,  it  is  not  likely  that  he  had  any  presenti- 
ment of  his  approaching  fate.  Shortly  before,  indeed,  he  had 
made  the  hypothesis  of  his  own  death  a  subject  for  jest.  He 
left  Copacabana  never  to  return  there  alive. 

"  No  reports  whatever  respecting  the  adhesion  of  the  School 
to  the  insurrectionary  movement  reached  the  family  that  day. 
About  11  p.m.  by  their  house  clock  (which  was,  however,  too 
slow)  a  sound  of  firing  was  heard  from  over  the  hill.  But  when, 
in  spite  of  the  advanced  hour,  Cavalcante  did  not  return,  Frau 
Rieken  felt  very  anxious,  and  for  some  time  after  she  had  re- 
tired to  bed  this  state  of  uneasiness  kept  her  awake.  The  room 
occupied  by  her  and  her  husband  is  in  the  upper  part  of  the 
house,  but  as  it  is  a  small  one  and  filled  with  large-sized  furni- 
ture, the  door  is  left  wide  open  for  the  sake  of  ventilation. 
She  had  already  heard  the  clock  strike  two  •  it  was  therefore 
between  two  and  three  o'clock  in  the  morning  when  she  sud- 
denly saw  Cavalcante  standing  at  the  entrance  looking  in  upon 
her.  He  leant  against  the  side  of  the  door,  his  right  hand 
raised  and  holding  to  the  jamb  and  his  left  arm  behind  his  back. 
He  did  not  wear  the  regulation  uniform  in  which  he  had  been 
killed,  but  presented  himself  in  the  khaki  undress  he  usually 
wore  at  home — on  his  head  a  felt  hat  with  the  brim  turned 
down  and  a  rose-coloured  neckerchief  round  his  neck.  He 
seemed  to  be  covered  with  mud  and  his  face  was  overcast  with 
sadness.  *  Guarda  Mimi,'  he  said.  ('Take  care  of  MimiV) 
Frau  Rieken's  first  surprise  was  succeeded  by  a  sense  of 
the  impropriety  of  his  being  in  that  part  of  the  house  at  such 
an  hour,  and  she  was  about  to  awake  her  husband.  But  on 


14  THE  NEW  VIEW  OF  GHOSTS 

looking  again  the   doorway   was    a   blank — Cavalcante    had 
vanished — it  was  but  a  vision. 

"  Next  morning,  before  any  news  had  reached  them,  she  told 
Herr  Rieken  and  her  daughter  of  her  strange  nocturnal  experi- 
ence. Neither  of  them  was  willing  to  believe  that  the  vision 
had  any  significance.  On  walking  down  to  the  electric-car 
station  at  8  o'clock,  Herr  Rieken  was  informed  of  the  occurrence 
of  the  revolt  and  of  Cavalcante*  s  death  by  some  young  men 
who  were  there  reading  the  papers.  At  first  he  gave  absolutely 
no  credit  to  the  report,  and  was  convinced  of  its  truth  only 
after  it  had  been  confirmed  by  two  naval  officers  of  his 
acquaintance.  He  proceeded  at  once  to  the  Military  School, 
whither  the  body  had  been  transported.  In  preparing  it  for 
burial  he  cut  away  the  uniform,  which,  although  not  the  same 
as  that  seen  in  the  vision,  was  indeed  stained  with  the  mud  of 
the  street." 

"Copacabana, 

January  28th,  1905. 

"We,  the  undersigned,  herewith  declare  that  everything 
happened  exactly  as  it  has  been  described  by  Mr.  Alexander. 

FRIEDRICH  RIEKEN. 
LOUISE  RIEKEN. 
MARIA  LUIZA  RIEKEN.** 

The  significance  of  this  incident  is  no  doubt  to  a 
certain  extent  diminished  by  the  fact  that  Frau 
Rieken  was  anxious  and  thinking  about  the  deceased. 
It  will  be  noticed  that  the  apparition  was  seen  more 
than  three  hours  after  death,  if,  as  is  to  be  presumed, 
death  followed  immediately  on  the  shot  which  passed 
through  the  head. 

In  the  next  case  the  apparition  occurred  several 
days  after  the  death  of  the  person  represented.  The 
account  is  extracted  from  a  letter  written  to  the  late 
Bishop  of  Carlisle,  Dr.  Harvey  Goodwin,  apparently 
in  1884. 

No.  5.— From  the  Rev.  G.  M.  Tandy,  Vicar  of 
West- Ward,  near  Wigton,  Cumberland,  formerly  of 
Loweswater. 

"  When  at  Loweswater,  I  one  day  called  upon  a  friend,  who 
said,  '  You  do  not  see  many  newspapers ;  take  one  of  those 
lying  there.'  I  accordingly  took  up  a  newspaper,  bound  with 
a  wrapper,  put  it  into  my  pocket  and  walked  home. 

*  Journal  S.P.R.,  April,  1905. 


SOME  RECENT  GHOST  STORIES  15 

"In  the  evening  I  was  writing,  and,  wanting  to  refer  to  a 
book,  went  into  another  room  where  my  books  were.  I  placed 
the  candle  on  a  ledge  of  the  bookcase,  took  down  a  book  and 
found  the  passage  I  wanted,  when,  happening  to  look  towards 
the  window,  which  was  opposite  to  the  bookcase,  I  saw  through 
the  window  the  face  of  an  old  friend  whom  I  had  known  well  at 
Cambridge,  but  had  not  seen  for  ten  years  or  more,  Canon 
Robinson  (of  the  Charity  and  School  Commission).  I  was  so 
sure  I  saw  him  that  I  went  out  to  look  for  him,  but  could  find 
no  trace  of  him. 

"  I  went  back  into  the  house  and  thought  I  would  take  a  look 
at  my  newspaper.  I  tore  off  the  wrapper,  unfolded  the  paper, 
and  the  first  piece  of  news  that  I  saw  was  the  death  of  Canon 
Robinson ! " 

Mr.  Tandy  further  writes : — 

"  In  reply  to  your  note  October  6th,  I  may  state,  with  regard 
to  the  narrative  I  detailed  to  the  Bishop  of  Carlisle,  that  I  saw 
the  face  looking  through  the  window,  by  the  light  of  a  single 
Ozokerit  candle,  placed  on  a  ledge  of  the  bookcase,  which  stood 
opposite  the  window ;  that  I  was  standing,  with  the  candle  by 
my  side,  reading  from  a  book  to  which  I  had  occasion  to  refer, 
and  raising  my  eyes  as  I  read,  I  saw  the  face  clearly  and  dis- 
tinctly, ghastly  pale,  but  with  the  features  so  marked  and  so 
distinct  that  I  recognised  it  at  once  as  the  face  of  my  most 
dear  and  intimate  friend,  the  late  Canon  Robinson,  who  was 
with  me  at  school  and  college,  and  whom  I  had  not  seen  for 
many  years  past  (ten  or  eleven  at  the  very  least).  Almost  im- 
mediately after,  fully  persuaded  that  my  old  friend  had  come  to 
?ay  me  a  surprise  visit,  I  rushed  to  the  door,  but  seeing  nothing 
called  aloud,  searched  the  premises  most  carefully,  and  made 
inquiry  as  to  whether  any  stranger  had  been  seen  near  my 
house,  but  no  one  had  been  heard  of  or  seen.  When  last  I  saw 
Canon  Robinson  he  was  apparently  in  good  health,  much  more 
likely  to  out-live  me  than  I  him,  and  before  I  opened  the  news- 
paper announcing  his  death  (which  I  did  about  an  hour  or  so 
after  seeing  the  face)  I  had  not  heard  or  read  of  his  illness,  or 
death,  and  there  was  nothing  in  the  passage  of  the  book  I  was 
reading  to  lead  me  to  think  of  him. 

"The  time  at  which  I  saw  the  face  was  between  10  and 
11  o'clock  p.m.,  the  night  dark,  and  while  I  was  reading  in 
a  room  where  no  shutter  was  closed  or  blind  drawn. 

"I  may  answer  in  reply  to  your  question  *  whether  I  have 
ever  had  any  other  vision  or  hallucination  of  any  kind?  '  that 
though  I  never  saw  any  apparition,  I  have  heard  mysterious 
noises  which  neither  my  friends  nor  I  were  able  satisfactorily 
to  account  for."* 

Proceedings,  S.P.R.,  vol.  v,  pp.  408-9. 


16  THE  NEW  VIEW  OF  GHOSTS 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  apparition  was  not  seen 
until  after  the  news  of  the  death  had  been  widely 
known  through  the  notice  in  the  papers.  The 
significance  of  this  circumstance  will  be  considered 
later  on. 

In  the  narratives  hitherto  quoted  the  figure  seen 
has  been  unhesitatingly  recognised  as  representing 
someone  well-known  to  the  percipient.  Our  next 
case  is  of  a  different  type.  The  "ghost"  here  was 
apparently  unknown  to  the  persons  to  whom  it 
presented  itself. 

No.  6.  —  From  the  Misses  Du  Cane. 

July  31st,  1891. 

"On  the  night  of  November  1st,  1889,  between  9-30  and 
10  p.m.,  my  three  sisters  and  myself  left  our  library,  where  we 
had  spent  the  evening,  and  proceeded  upstairs  to  our  bedrooms. 
On  reaching  my  room,  which  is  on  the  second  floor,  I  and  a 
sister  went  to  the  mantelpiece  in  search  of  the  matchbox,  in 
order  to  light  the  gas.  I  must  here  explain  that  my  bedroom 
opens  into  my  mother's,  and  the  door  between  the  two  rooms 
was  open. 

"There  was  no  light  beyond  that  which  glimmered  through 
the  Venetian  blinds  in  each  room.  As  I  stood  by  the  mantel- 
piece I  was  awe-struck  by  the  sudden  appearance  of  a  figure 
gliding  noiselessly  towards  me  from  the  outer  room.  The 
appearance  was  that  of  a  young  man,  of  middle  height,  dressed 
in  dark  clothes,  and  wearing  a  peaked  cap.  His  face  was  very 
pale,  and  his  eyes  downcast  as  though  deep  in  thought.  His 
mouth  was  shaded  by  a  dark  moustache.  The  face  was  slightly 
luminous,  which  enabled  us  to  distinguish  the  features 
distinctly,  although  we  were  without  a  light  of  any  kind  at  the 
time. 

"The  apparition  glided  onwards  towards  my  sisters,  who 
were  standing  inside  the  room,  quite  close  to  the  outer  door, 
and  who  had  first  caught  sight  of  it,  reflected  in  the  mirror. 
When  within  a  few  inches  from  them  it  vanished  as  suddenly 
as  it  appeared.  As  the  figure  passed  we  distinctly  felt  a  cold 
air  which  seemed  to  accompany  it.  We  have  never  seen  it 
again,  and  cannot  account  in  any  way  for  the  phenomenon. 

"One  of  my  sisters  did  not  see  the  apparition,  as  she  was 
looking  the  other  way  at  the  moment,  but  felt  a  cold  air  ;  the 
other  two,  however,  were  eye-witnesses  with  myself  to  the  fact. 

LOUISA  F.  Du  CANE. 

ojtfn^H  ux,  F.  A.  Du  CANE. 

bigned  by 


C.  A.  Du  CANE." 


SOME  RECENT  GHOST  STORIES  17 

Answers  to  questions  (asked  by  Dr.  Kingston) 
respecting  apparition. 

August  4th,  1891. 

"There  was  no  light  of  any  kind  in  passage  outside  the 
rooms. 

"We  had  not  been  talking  or  thinking  of  ghosts  during  the 
evening,  or  reading  anything  exciting;  neither  were  we  the 
least  nervous. 

"None  of  us  had  ever  before  been  startled  by  anything 
unexpected  in  the  dark  or  twilight. 

"  It  was  not  light  enough  to  see  each  other's  faces,  as  the 
only  illumination  there  was  came  through  the  Venetian  blinds, 
which  were  drawn  down. 

"It  was  myself,  Louisa  Du  Cane,  who  first  saw  the 
apparition. 

We  three  sisters  who  saw  it  exclaimed  at  the  same  moment, 
and  found  we  had  seen  the  same  thing. 

"My  sister  Mary  did  not  see  the  figure,  as  she  was  looking 
the  other  way  at  the  time,  but  felt  distinctly,  as  did  the  rest  of 
us,  a  sensation  of  cold  when  the  figure  passed  us. 

"  We  did  not  recognise  the  figure  as  anybody  we  had  ever 
seen. 

"We  did  -not  afterwards  hear  of  any  event  that  we  could 
connect  with  the  appearance." 

LOUISA  F.  Du  CANB. 

Mrs.  Henry  Sidgwick  called  on  the  Misses  Du 
Cane  in  December,  1891,  and  learnt  some  further 
particulars.  She  writes : 

n  I  saw  the  room  in  daylight,  but  was  told  that  at  night  it 
was  to  some  extent  lighted  ('like  moonlight')  by  the  street 
lamp  opposite.  Miss  L.  Du  Cane  saw  the  face  better  than  the 
natural  light  would  have  enabled  her  to  do.  Her  sisters,  I 
gathered,  saw  the  figure  clearly  but  not  the  face.  The  dress,  so 
Far  as  seen,  might  have  been  that  of,  say,  a  purser  on  board  a 
merchant  steamer.  The  figure  did  not  suggest  to  them  any 
person  they  had  ever  seen,  and  its  dress  and  appearance  had 
no  associations  for  them.  Its  arms  were  held  away  from  the 
body,  so  that  they  saw  the  light  between — about  as  a  man's 
arms  would  be  if  his  hands  were  in  his  pockets.  They  did  not 
see  the  hands.  I  think  it  is  doubtful  how  much  of  detail  each 
lady  observed  independently  at  the  time,  especially  as  they 
were  a  good  deal  startled  and  agitated,  or  how  much  the 
several  impressions  may  have  got  defined  and  harmonised  in 
recollection  afterwards.  The  figure  seems  to  have  moved 
quietly  towards  them  from  the  window."  * 

*  Journal,  S.P.R.,  March,  1892. 


18  THE  NEW  VIEW  OF  GHOSTS 

Mrs.  Sidgwick  was  satisfied  that  the  figure  seen 
could  not  have  been  a  man  of  flesh  and  blood. 

Our  next  case  conforms  more  nearly  to  the  con- 
ception of  a  ghost  popularised  through  the  Christmas 
Magazines — the  ghost  of  the  haunted  house. 

In  Notes  and  Queries  for  March  20th,  1880,  over 
the  initials  H.  C.  C.  (Mr.  H.  C.  Coote)  appeared  the 
following  account  written  by  Miss  J.  A.  A.,  the  per- 
cipient. It  will  perhaps  be  hardly  necessary  to  ex- 
plain that  in  the  case  of  a  so-called  "  haunted  house  " 
the  narrators  for  the  most  part  feel  bound  to  main- 
tain their  anonymity,  because  of  the  inconvenience, 
in  some  cases  actual  pecuniary  loss,  which  would 
result  if  the  house  were  recognised. 

No.  7.— From  Mr.  H.  C.  Coote. 

The  following  interesting  communication  has  been  handed  to 
me  by  a  young  lady,  who  is  as  intelligent  as  she  is  charming. 
Her  hereditary  acumen  precludes  altogether  the  possibility  of 
any  self-deceit  in  regard  to  her  own  personal  experiences  as 
narrated  by  herself. 

"What  I  am  going  to  relate  happened  to  myself  while  staying 
with  some  North-country  cousins,  last  July,  at  their  house  in 

shire.  1  had  spent  a  few  days  there  in  the  summer  of  the 

previous  year,  but  without  then  hearing  or  seeing  anything  out 
of  the  common.  On  my  second  visit,  arriving  early  in  the 
afternoon,  I  went  out  boating  with  some  of  the  family,  spent  a 
very  jolly  evening,  and  finally  went  to  bed — a  little  tired, 
perhaps,  with  the  day's  work,  but  not  the  least  nervous.  I 
slept  soundly  until  between  three  and  four,  just  when  the  day 
was  beginning  to  break.  I  had  been  awake  for  a  short  time 
when  suddenly  the  door  of  my  bedroom  opened  and  shut  again 
rather  quickly.  I  fancied  it  might  be  one  of  the  servants,  and 
called  out,  *  Come  in ! '  After  a  short  time  the  door  opened 
again,  but  no  one  came  in — at  least,  no  one  that  I  could  see. 
Almost  at  the  same  time  that  the  door  opened  for  the  second 
time,  I  was  a  little  startled  by  the  rustling  of  some  curtains  be- 
longing to  a  hanging  wardrobe,  which  stood  by  the  side  of  the 
bed ;  the  rustling  continued,  and  I  was  seized  with  a  most  un- 
comfortable feeling,  not  exactly  of  fright,  but  a  strange,  un- 
earthly sensation  that  I  was  not  alone.  I  had  had  that  feeling 
for  some  minutes,  when  I  saw  at  the  foot  of  the  bed  a  child  about 
seven  or  nine  years  old.  The  child  seemed  as  if  it  were  on  the 
bed,  and  came  gliding  towards  me  as  I  lay.  It  was  the  figure 
of  a  little  girl  in  her  night-dress— a  little  girl  with  dark  hair  and 


SOME  RECENT  GHOST  STORIES  1.9 

a  very  white  face.  I  tried  to  speak  to  her,  but  could  not.  She 
came  slowly  on  up  to  the  top  of  the  bed,  and  then  I  saw  her 
face  clearly.  She  seemed  in  great  trouble;  her  hands  were 
clasped  and  her  eyes  were  turned  up  with  a  look  of  entreaty,  an 
almost  agonised  look.  Then  slowly  unclasping  her  hands,  she 
touched  me  on  the  shoulder.  The  hand  felt  icy  cold,  and  while 
I  strove  to  speak  she  was  gone.  I  felt  more  frightened  after 
the  child  was  gone  than  before,  and  began  to  be  very  anxious 
for  the  time  when  the  servant  would  make  her  appearance. 
Whether  I  slept  again  or  not  I  hardly  know.  But  by  the  time 
the  servant  did  come  I  had  almost  persuaded  myself  that  the 
whole  affair  was  nothing  but  a  very  vivid  nightmare.  However, 
when  I  came  down  to  breakfast,  there  were  many  remarks  made 
about  my  not  looking  well — it  was  observed  that  I  was  pale.  In 
answer  I  told  my  cousins  that  I  had  had  a  most  vivid  night- 
mare, and  remarked  that  if  I  was  a  believer  in  ghosts  I  should 
imagine  I  had  seen  one.  Nothing  more  was  said  at  the  time 
upon  this  subject,  except  that  my  host,  who  was  a  doctor, 
observed  that  I  had  better  not  sleep  in  the  room  again,  at  any 
rate  not  alone. 

"So  the  following  night  one  of  my  cousins  slept  in  the  same 
room  with  me.  Neither  of  us  saw  or  heard  anything  out  of  the 
way  during  that  night  or  the  early  morning.  That  being  the 
case,  I  persuaded  myself  that  what  I  had  seen  had  been  only 
imagination,  and,  much  against  everybody's  expressed  wish,  I 
insisted  the  next  night  in  sleeping  in  the  room  again,  and  alone. 
Accordingly,  having  retired  again  to  the  same  room,  I  was 
kneeling  down  at  the  bedside  to  say  my  prayers,  when  exactly 
the  same  dread  as  before  came  over  me.  The  curtains  of  the 
wardrobe  swayed  about,  and  I  had  the  same  sensation  as  pre- 
viously, that  I  was  not  alone.  I  felt  too  frightened  to  stir, 
when,  luckily  for  me,  one  of  my  cousins  came  in  for  something 
she  had  left.  On  looking  at  me  she  exclaimed,  *  Have  you  seen 
anything?'  I  said,  '  No,'  but  told  her  how  I  felt,  and  without 
much  persuasion  being  necessary,  I  left  the  room  with  her,  and 
never  returned  to  it.  When  my  hostess  learnt  what  had  hap- 
pened (as  she  did  immediately)  she  told  me  I  must  not  sleep  in 
that  room  again,  as  the  nightmare  had  made  such  an  impres- 
sion on  me ;  I  should  imagine  (she  said)  all  sorts  of  things  and 
make  myself  quite  ill.  I  went  to  another  room,  and  during  the 
rest  of  my  visit  (a  week),  I  was  not  troubled  by  any 
reappearance  of  the  little  girl. 

"On  leaving,  my  cousin,  the  eldest  daughter  of  the  doctor, 
went  with  me  to  the  house  of  an  uncle  of  mine  in  the  same 
county.  We  stayed  there  for  about  a  fortnight,  and  during  that 
time  the  '  little  girl'  was  alluded  to  only  as  my  *  nightmare.' 

"In  this  I  afterwards  found  there  was  a  little  reticence,  for, 
just  before  leaving  my  uncle's,  my  cousin  said  to  me,  *  I  must 
tell  you  something  I  have  been  longing  to  tell  you  ever  since  I 


20  THE  NEW  VIEW  OF  GHOSTS 

left  home.  But  my  father  desired  me  not  to  tell  you,  as,  not 
being  very  strong,  you  might  be  too  frightened.  Your  night- 
mare was  not  a  nightmare  at  all,  but  the  apparition  of  a  little 
girl/  She  then  went  on  to  tell  me  that  this  *  little  girl'  had 
been  seen  three  times  before,  by  three  different  members  of 
the  family,  but  as  this  was  some  nine  or  ten  years  since,  they 
had  almost  ceased  to  think  anything  about  it  until  I  related  my 
experiences  on  the  morning  after  the  first  night  of  my  second 
visit." 

To  Mr.  More  Adey,  of  Wotton-under-Edge,  at  the 
time  an  Oxford  undergraduate,  and  Member  of  the 
Oxford  Phasmatological  Society,  we  owe  the  account 
which  follows  of  the  former  appearances  of  the 
ghost.  The  narrative,  which  was  written  by  Mrs. 
H.,  the  aunt  of  Miss  J.  A.  A.,  and  her  two  daughters, 
the  cousins  referred  to,  appears  to  have  been  sent  to 
Mr.  More  Adey  in  the  latter  part  of  1883.  Dr.  H., 
the  actual  percipient  on  the  first  occasion,  had  seen 
his  wife's  account  and  admits  its  correctness. 

From  Mrs.  H. 

"Some  years  ago,  perhaps  about  twenty  or  more  [later  Mrs. 
H.  fixes  the  date  as  between  January,  1863,  and  1865],  we  hap- 
pened to  be  having  one  of  pur  usual  small  gatherings  for  a 
musical  evening,  when  the  circumstance  happened  which  I  am 
going  to  relate.  My  husband  had  been  detained  visiting 
patients  until  rather  late,  returning  home  about  9  o'clock.  He 
was  running  upstairs  in  his  usual  quick  way,  three  or  four  steps 
at  a  time,  to  go  to  his  dressing-room  and  dress  for  the  evening, 
when,  on  turning  the  first  flight  of  stairs,  he  was  rather  startled 
to  see  on  the  landing  (a  few  steps  higher)  a  little  child  who  ran 
before  him  into  my  room.  My  little  boy  B.,  about  two  or  three 
years  of  age,  was  at  that  time  sleeping  in  a  small  child's  bed  at 
my  bedside.  Mr.  H.  followed  and  spoke,  calling  the  boy  by 
name,  but  he  gave  no  answer.  The  gas  was  burning  on  the 
landing  outside  my  room,  but  there  was  no  light  inside.  He 
felt  about  and  on  the  bed,  but  instead  of  finding  the  child  stand- 
ing or  sitting  on  the  bed,  as  he  supposed,  he  found  him  com- 
fortably tucked  in  and  fast  asleep.  A  cold  creepy  feeling  came 
over  him,  for  there  had  not  possibly  been  time  for  anyone  to 
get  into  the  bed,  which  was  just  behind  the  door.  He  lighted 
a  candle,  searched  the  room,  and  also  saw  that  the  boy  was  un- 
mistakably fast  asleep.  He  expected  to  find  one  of  the  other 
children,  as  the  figure  appeared  to  be  taller  than  that  of  the 
boy.  When  the  company  had  gone  my  husband  told  me  of  the 
occurrence.  I  felt  quite  sure  that  the  mystery  could  be  solved , 
and  that  we  should  find  it  had  been  one  of  the  children,  though 


SOME  RECENT  GHOST  STORIES  21 

he  assured  me  there  could  be  no  one  in  the  room,  as  he  had 
made  a  thorough  search. 

"  I  still  thought  he  might  be  mistaken,  and  fancied  that  it  had 
been  G.  (who  was  a  year  or  two  older  than  B.),  who  had  es- 
caped out  of  the  night  nursery,  which  was  near ;  that  she  had 
been  listening  to  the  music,  when  she  heard  someone  coming, 
and  had  run  into  my  room  to  hide ;  but  on  inquiring  closely  the 
next  morning,  I  found  she  had  never  left  her  bed.  We  did  not 
think.much  more  about  it,  though  there  was  still  a  feeling  of 
mystery,  and  we  never  named  it  to  anyone.  Some  years  after- 
wards it  was  brought  to  our  minds  by  two  of  my  daughters 
having  seen  a  child  very  early  in  the  morning  at  the  same  time, 
but  in  different  rooms.  One  of  them  only  saw  its  face.  Then, 
after  a  lapse  of  years,  Miss  A. ,  while  staying  with  us,  saw  the 
apparition  mentioned  in  her  ghost  story.  Whether  the  appear- 
ance has  been  a  ghost  or  merely  an  optical  delusion  I  cannot 
say,  but  each  of  those  who  have  seen  it  had  never  heard  the 
slightest  allusion  to  anything  of  the  kind  before." 

From  Miss  G.  H. 

"  I  was  up  early  one  winter's  morning  just  as  dawn  was  break- 
ing, and  there  was  barely  light  enough  for  me  to  see  my  way 
about  the  house ;  I  was  feeling  tired  and  somewhat  sleepy,  but 
not  in  the  slightest  degree  nervous. 

"On  passing  the  door  of  a  room  at  the  head  of  the  staircase, 
in  which  my  youngest  sister  slept,  I  perceived  that  it  was  open. 
Taking  hold  of  the  handle,  I  was  about  to  shut  it  (the  door 
opened  inwards),  when  I  was  startled  by  the  figure  of  a  child, 
standing  in  a  corner  formed  by  a  wardrobe  which  was  placed 
against  the  wall  about  a  foot  and  a-half  from  the  doorway. 
Thinking  it  was  my  sister  I  exclaimed,  J  Oh,  M.,  you  shouldn't 
startle  me  so ! '  and  shut  the  door ;  but  in  the  same  instant,  be- 
fore I  had  time  to  quit  my  hold  of  the  handle,  I  opened  it  again, 
feeling  sure  that  it  could  not  be  my  sister;  and,  sure  enough, 
she  was  fast  asleep  in  bed  so  far  from  the  door  that  it  would 
not  have  been  possible  for  her  to  have  crossed  from  the  door  to 
her  bedside  in  the  short  space  of  time  when  I  was  closing  the 
door.  In  the  corner  where  the  child  had  been  there  was 
nothing,  and  I  felt  that  I  must  have  seen  a  ghost,  for  I  was 
suddenly  seized  with  a  feeling  of  horror  which  could  not  have 
been  caused  by  anything  imaginary.  The  child  had  a  dark 
complexion,  hair  and  eyes,  and  a  thin  oval  face;  it  was  not 
white  as  when  seen  by  Miss  A.,  but  it  gave  me  a  mournful  look 
as  if  full  of  trouble.  Had  it  been  a  living  child,  I  should  have 
imagined  it  to  be  one  who  enjoyed  none  of  the  thoughtlessness 
and  carelessness  of  childhood,  but  whose  young  life,  on  the  con- 
trary, was  filled  with  premature  cares.  Its  age  might  be  about 
nine  or  ten  ;  its  dress  I  could  not  distinguish,  as  I  only  seemed 
to  see  its  head  and  face  j  the  expression  struck  me  most ;  so 


22  THE  NEW  VIEW  OF  GHOSTS 

vividly  did  I  see  it  that  if  I  were  able  to  draw  I  could,  I  believe, 
give  an  accurate  representation  of  it,  even  now  after  about  five 
years. 

"  On  telling  my  eldest  sister  A.  what  I  had  seen  she  said, 
'How  very  curious!  I  thought  I  saw  something,  too,  this 
morning.' 

"  I  must  tell  you  that  to  reach  her  bedroom  it  was  necessary 
to  pass  through  mine  ;  on  the  morning  in  question  as  she  looked 
into  my  room  she  saw  a  figure  standing  by  a  small  table. 
Being  short-sighted  she  thought  for  a  moment  that  it  was  I, 
though  it  appeared  to  be  smaller ;  and  suddenly  seized  with  a 
nervous  fear,  most  unusual  with  her,  she  called  out,  '  Oh  !  G., 
wait  for  me.'  She  turned  for  an  instant  to  get  something  out  of 
her  room,  and  when  she  looked  again  there  was  nothing  to  be 
seen.  The  door  from  my  room  into  the  passage  was  shut.  I 
was  in  another  part  of  the  house  at  the  time,  and  we  were 
the  only  two  members  of  the  family  out  of  bed." 

From  Mrs.  A.  (formerly  Miss  H.) 

^ "  I  believe  it  was  between  five  and  six  in  the  morning  my 
sister  and  self  thought  we  would  get  up  early  to  read.  We  had 
our  bedrooms  close  together,  with  the  door  in  the  middle 
joining  the  rooms  always  open. 

"  My  sister  had  just  left  her  room  about  three  minutes ;  when 
I  looked  towards  her  room,  I  saw  a  little  figure  in  white  stand- 
ing near  a  table.  I  did  not  see  its  face,  but  I  attribute  that  to 
my  being  so  short-sighted.  Also  I  was  so  suddenly  overcome 
with  nervousness  that  I  ran  from  the  room. 

"  During  the  morning  I  told  my  sister  what  I  had  seen ;  then 
she  gave  me  her  account."* 

It  seems  clear  from  her  account  that  Miss  J.  A.  A. 
at  the  time  when  she  saw  the  ghost  had  not  heard  of 
any  previous  apparition  in  the  house.  Miss  H.  and 
her  sister  appear  to  have  been  equally  ignorant,  for 
apart  from  Mrs.  H.'s  express  statement  to  that 
effect,  it  is  not  at  all  likely  that  she  or  Dr.  H.  would 
have  told  the  children  that  a  ghost  had  been  seen  in 
the  house. 

Mrs.  H.,  writing  in  1883,  adds,  as  regards  the 
identification  of  the  figure  : 

11  If  the  apparition  should  be  a  ghost,  I  have  thought  that  it 
must  be  the  spirit  of  a  little  girl  who  died  in  part  of  our  house 
before  it  was  added  to  it.  When  we  first  carne  to  this  house, 
about  thirty  years  ago,  it  was  divided  into  two,  the  smaller 

*  Proceedings^  S.P.R.,  vol.  vi.  pp,  270-74. 


SOME  RECENT  GHOST  STORIES  23 

part  being  inhabited  by  a  doctor.  His  wife  died  soon  after  we 
came,  and  a  few  years  afterwards  his  little  girl.  I  used  to  see 
her  when  she  was  ill,  and  I  last  saw  her  the  day  before  she 
died.  She  had  fine  dark  eyes,  black  hair,  oval  face,  and  a  pale 
olive  complexion.  This  description  I  find  agrees  exactly  with 
those  who  have  seen  its  face.  None  of  them  had  ever  heard 
me  mention  the  child ;  indeed,  I  had  quite  forgotten  about  her 
until  hearing  of  these  ghost  stories.  I  said  it  must  be  J.  M., 
who  died  here.  Soon  after  her  death  her  father  went  abroad. 
As  far  as  I  remember  the  child  was  about  eight  or  nine  years 
of  age." 

The  above  are  a  few  samples  of  the  testimony 
which  is  held  by  some  in  the  present  day  to  warrant 
belief  in  "ghosts."  In  the  next  chapter  an  attempt 
will  be  made  to  analyse  the  evidence  and  interpret 
its  significance. 


24  THE  NEW  VIEW  OF  GHOSTS 


CHAPTER   II 

GHOSTS    AS    HALLUCINATIONS 

IN  the  preceding  chapter  we  have  given  a  few 
examples,  selected  from  many  hundreds  of  similar 
narratives  communicated  to  the  Society  for  Psychical 
Research  within  the  last  thirty  years.  From  the 
mere  quantity  alone  the  case  for  the  ghost  would 
seem  to  be  much  better  than  the  case  for  the  sea 
serpent.  But  if  we  examine  the  quality  of  the 
evidence,  we  find  its  superiority  still  more  marked. 
Here  we  have  to  do,  not  with  credulous  and  irrespon- 
sible sailors,  but  with  well-educated  men  and  women; 
and  men  and  women  who  feel  their  responsibility  in 
the  matter  sufficiently  to  allow  their  names  to 
appear  in  attestation  of  their  reports.  Their  testi- 
mony is  given  soberly  and  deliberately;  it  is  im- 
possible to  doubt  at  any  rate  the  sincerity  of  the 
witnesses.  They  may  have  been  mistaken ;  and  in 
any  particular  case  it  is  perhaps  not  difficult  to 
suggest  a  plausible  explanation,  on  normal  lines,  of 
the  supposed  apparition.  Mr.  Tandy  may  have 
mistaken  some  outside  object — bird  or  tree  branch 
— for  the  face  of  his  friend  looking  in  at  the  window; 
Mrs.  McAlpine  may  have  seen  a  fellow  guest 
standing  in  the  doorway  of  Mr.  Bryce  Douglas* 
sitting-room;  Mr.  Gore  Booth  may  have  caught  a 
hasty  glimpse  of  the  new  hallboy ;  Frau  Rieken  may 
simply  have  been  dreaming,  and  so  on.  But  when 
these  or  similar  explanations  have  to  be  applied  to 
hundreds  of  stories,  they  are  seen  to  be  a  little  thin. 
It  becomes  more  reasonable  to  believe  that  some- 
thing out  of  the  way  was  really  seen  in  many  of 
these  cases — a  figure,  but  not  a  figure  of  flesh  and 
blood. 


GHOSTS  AS  HALLUCINATIONS  25 

Was  this  figure  then  a  ghost?  Are  the  dreams  of 
men  of  old,  the  fancies  of  mediaeval  poetry  and  art, 
justified  by  the  facts?  Is  there  really  in  each  of  us 
a  quasi-material  form  having  all  the  limbs  and  due 
proportions  of  the  body  which  can  leave  the  body 
for  a  time  during  life,  which  must  leave  it  per- 
manently at  death,  and  which  can  under  favour- 
able conditions  make  itself  visible  to  mortal  eyes  ? 
It  may  no  doubt  be  said  that  there  is  nothing  in  our 
present  knowledge  of  the  constitution  of  the  material 
world  to  forbid  such  an  hypothesis.  There  may  be, 
as  one  eminent  physicist  suggested  in  the  last 
generation,  intercalary  vortex  atoms ;  there  may  be 
interstitial  ether ;  there  may  be  space  of  four 
dimensions.  We  know  too  little  to  say  absolutely 
that  such  an  ethereal  or  psychical  body  could  not 
exist.  But  it  cannot  be  too  clearly  understood  that 
there  is  no  evidence  of  its  existence.  These  appari- 
tions have  never  yet  been  weighed  or  photographed, 
nor  have  they  furnished  any  other  proof  of  their 
kinship  with  matter.* 

But  if  it  be  admitted  that  in  a  universe  which  lies 
even  yet  for  the  most  part  in  darkness  or  twilight, 
there  may  be  room  for  ghosts  as  well  as  for 
ethereal  vibrations,  the  ghost-theory,  at  any  rate  as 
applied  to  these  apparitions,  will  still  be  found  to 
present  almost  insuperable  difficulties.  Let  us 
suppose  that  it  was  an  ethereal  or  psychical  counter- 
part of  a  human  being  which  appeared  to  the  several 
witnesses  whose  testimony  was  cited  in  the  last 
chapter.  The  ghosts,  it  will  have  been  observed, 
always  appeared  clothed.  Have  clothes  also  ethereal 
counterparts  ?  Such  was  and  is  the  belief  of  many 
early  races  of  mankind,  who  leave  clothes,  food,  and 
weapons  in  the  graves  of  the  dead,  or  burn  them  on 

*  There  have,  of  course,  been  numerous  claims  on  the  part  of 
Spiritualists  and  other  latterday  occultists  to  photograph  spirits,  and 
also  the  nerve  emanations  or  perispritof  the  living  body;  also  on  occasion 
to  weigh  so-called  spiriti.  But  I  am  not  acquainted  with  a  single  experi- 
ment of  the  kind  which  would  justify  any  modification  of  the  statement 
in  the  text. 


26  THE  NEW  VIEW  OF  GHOSTS 

the  funeral  pile,  that  their  friends  may  have  all  they 
require  in  the  spirit  world.  But  are  we  prepared  to 
accept  this  view  ?  And  again,  these  ghosts  commonly 
appear,  not  in  the  clothes  which  they  were  wearing  at 
death — for  most  deaths  take  place  in  bed — but  in 
some  others,  as  will  be  seen  from  an  examination  of 
the  stories  already  cited.  Are  we  to  suppose  the 
ethereal  body  going  to  its  wardrobe  to  clothe  its 
nakedness  withal  ?  or  that,  as  in  the  case  of  Ensign 
Cavalcante's  appearance  to  Frau  Rieken,  the  ghost 
will  actually  take  off  the  ethereal  clothes  it  wore  at 
death  and  replace  them  with  others  ?  It  is  scarcely 
necessary  to  pursue  the  subject.  The  difficulties 
and  contradictions  involved  in  adapting  it  to  explain 
the  clothes  must  prove  fatal  to  the  ghost-theory. 

Whatever  else  they  may  be,  it  seems  clear  that 
these  apparitions  are  not  ghosts  in  the  old-fashioned 
sense.  And  yet,  unless  we  are  to  distrust  human 
testimony  altogether,  they  are  something.  It  is 
only  within  the  last  three  or  four  generations  that 
science  has  been  in  a  position  to  explain  what  in 
fact  these  apparitions  are.  It  is  now  generally 
agreed  that  they  are  of  the  stuff  which  dreams  are 
made  of;  they  are,  in  fact,  waking  dreams,  or  in 
technical  phraseology,  sensory  hallucinations.  There 
are  in  the  brain,  it  has  been  estimated,  some  three 
thousand  million  nerve  cells.  In  these  cells  are 
registered  all  sensory  impressions ;  everything  that 
we  see,  hear,  feel,  makes  some  kind  of  impression  in 
some  of  these  brain  cells,  and  when  the  particular 
cells  are  again  set  in  action  the  original  sensation  is 
reproduced,  but  in  a  fainter  degree — we  remember 
what  we  saw,  heard,  or  felt.  The  brain  cells  are 
variously  and  extensively  connected  with  each  other, 
so  that  when  we  are  awake,  the  impressions  made  on 
one  group  of  cells  are  continually  touching  off  other 
associated  groups ;  and  our  main  stream  of  thought 
is  accompanied  by  currents  of  further  images.  In 
waking  life  these  random  chains  of  side  association 
pass  almost  unregarded.  But  in  sleep,  when  there 


GHOSTS  AS  HALLUCINATIONS  27 

is  no  continuous  main  stream  of  thought,  any  slight 
disturbance,  within  the  body  or  without,  may  set 
going  a  chain  of  cells,  each  cell  as  it  discharges 
itself  touching  off  the  next — like  a  battery  of  Leyden 
jars — and  we  have  as  a  result  a  dream.  The  things 
seen  in  a  dream  are  only  memory  images,  or 
combinations  of  memory  images;  but  the,y  seem 
often  as  vivid  as  actual  present  sensations,  because 
there  is  no  present  sensation  to  compare  them  with. 
Now  a  hallucination  is  also  a  combination  of 
memory  images,  but  from  some  causes  as  yet  very 
imperfectly  understood  it  takes  on  momentarily  the 
strength  of  an  actual  sensation — is  in  fact  an  actual 
sensation.  For  psychologically  there  is  no  means 
of  distinguishing  between  a  memory  image  and  a 
sensation  image  except  by  their  relative  strength. 
And  if  a  man  says  he  sees — even  when  there  is 
nothing  there  to  be  seen — we  must  take  his  word  for 
it.  He  is  the  only  person  who  can  possibly  know. 
In  other  words,  a  typical  hallucination  is  indistin- 
guishable from  a  sense  perception.  To  understand 
how  this  can  be  we  must  realise  that  in  most,  if  not 
all,  so-called  acts  of  sense  perception  we  perceive  a 
great  many  details  which  may  never  have  made  an 
impression  on  the  ear  or  eyes.  This  is  especially 
noticeable  when  we  are  trying  to  see  something  in  a 
dim  light,  or  straining  our  ears  to  catch  a  faint 
sound.  Everybody  recognises  that  in  such  a  case 
we  misinterpret  by  adding  mental  images  to  sensory 
data,  until  in  the  result  we  may  really  see  or  hear 
something  entirely  different  from  the  object  which 
turns  out  to  have  been  actually  present — we  may 
hear  carriage  wheels  in  the  rustle  of  dead  leaves  on 
the  drive,  or  a  footstep  in  the  creaking  stair,  or  may 
see  a  threatening  figure  in  an  old  tree  outlined 
against  the  twilight  sky.  But  even  the  normal 
processes  of  perception  contain  such  memory  images 
raised  by  association  to  the  sensory  level;  or,  as 
Taine  has  put  it,  "every  perception  is  a  true 
hallucination;  as  every  hallucination  is  a  false 


28  THE  NEW  VIEW  OF  GHOSTS 

I  perception."  A  sensory  hallucination  therefore  is 
simply  an  abnormal  result  from  a  normal  process ; 
it  is,  so  to  speak,  a  malformed  perception,  or  an 

*  hypertrophied  memory  image. 

We  find  a  good  illustration  of  the  latter  class  of 
hallucinations,  the  pure  memory  image,  in  a  recent 
record  by  M.  Ernest  Naville  of  his  personal  experi- 
ence. The  distinguished  writer,  now  in  his  ninety- 
third  year,  is  visited  by  numerous  visual  hallucina- 
tions. Amongst  these  hallucinations  was  one  of  a 
crowd  of  women  wearing  those  enormous  starched 
white  coifs  (cornettes)  so  common  in  France. 
Searching  for  the  origin  of  this  vision,  he  finds  it  in 
an  experience  of  his  youth.  Sixty-two  years  ago,  in 
1846,  M.  Naville  was  staying  at  the  baths  of  Salins. 
In  the  church  on  Sunday  was  a  large  crowd  of 
peasant  women  in  huge  coifs,  who,  tired  with  their 
week's  work,  fell  asleep  during  the  sermon.  M. 
Naville  still  recalls  the  quaint  sight  presented  by  all 
these  coifs  violently  agitated  when  the  Cure 
interrupted  his  sermon  to  cry,  "  He  !  !  Que  de 
dormeuses,  mon  Dieu."* 

Some  years  back  there  was  much  discussion  on 
the  question  whether  hallucinations  were  always 
started  from  without,  either  by  the  misinterpretation 
of  some  actual  sensation,  or  by  some  defect  in  the 
sensory  organ,  or  whether  they  could  ever  be 
centrally  initiated,  from  the  brain  itself.  Such 
questions  have  now  been  practically  settled  by  the 
study  of  hypnotism.  For  in  hypnotism  it  is  unques- 
tionable that  true  sensory  hallucinations  can  be 
engendered  by  the  mere  suggestion  of  the  hypnotist. 
These  post-hypnotic  hallucinations,  indeed,  are  some 
of  the  most  valuable  and  interesting  results  from 
the  study  of  the  induced  trance.  I  have  seen  an 
educated  lady,  a  nursing  Sister,  on  waking  from  the 
trance  pick  out  one  of  several  blank  cards.  In 
accordance  with  a  suggestion  given  during  the 
trance,  she  saw  on  the  blank  card  a  photograph  of 

*  Archives  de  Psychologic,  Dec.,  1908. 


GHOSTS  AS  HALLUCINATIONS  29 

one  of  the  persons  present.  The  card  was  given  to 
her;  she  thanked  the  donor,  congratulated  him  on 
the  excellent  likeness,  and  put  the  sham  photograph 
in  her  pocket.  As  I  afterwards  learnt  from  her, 
when  she  found  the  card  in  her  pocket  on  her  return 
home  an  hour  or  two  later,  it  had  returned  to  its 
original  blankness.  But  the  force  of  suggestion 
will  go  further  than  this.  It  is  not  difficult  to  make 
a  good  subject  see  the  figure  of  a  person  not 
actually  present.  Professor  Bernheim  relates  that 
he  suggested  to  a  soldier  in  the  trance  that  on  a 
certain  day  he,  the  soldier,  should  come  to  Bern- 
heim's  study,  where  he  would  meet  the  President  of 
the  French  Republic,  who  would  bestow  a  decora- 
tion. On  the  appointed  day  the  soldier  entered  the 
study,  saluted  low,  and  returned  thanks  for  the 
imaginary  decoration.  The  late  Edmund  Gurney 
made  a  few  successful  experiments  of  the  kind  upon 
a  particularly  suggestible  subject,  Zillah,  a  maid- 
servant in  the  employment  of  Mrs.  Ellis,  then  of 
40  Keppel  Street,  Russell  Square.  In  the  third 
trial  the  suggestion  was  given  to  the  girl  when  in 
the  trance  on  the  evening  of  July  13th,  1887,  that 
she  should  see  an  apparition  of  Mr.  Gurney  on  the 
following  day  at  3.0.  p.m.  Mrs.  Ellis  was  not 
forewarned  of  the  experiment.  On  the  14th  July 
she  wrote : 

"As  I  suppose  you  gave  Zillah  a  post-hypnotic  hallucination, 
probably  you  will  wish  to  hear  of  it.  I  will  give  you  the  story 
in  her  own  words,  as  I  jotted  them  down  immediately  after- 
wards— saying  nothing  to  her,  of  course,  of  my  doing  so.  She 
said :  '  I  was  in  the  kitchen  washing  up,  and  had  just  looked  at 
the  clock,  and  was  startled  to  see  how  late  it  was — five  minutes 
to  three — when  I  heard  footsteps  coming  down  the  stairs — • 
rather  a  cjuick,  light  step— and  I  thought  it  was  Mr.  Sleep1 
(the  dentist  whose  rooms  are  in  the  house),  '  but  as  I  turned 
around,  with  a  dish  mop  in  one  hand  and  a  plate  in  the  other, 
I  saw  someone  with  a  hat  on,  who  had  to  stoop  as  he  came 
down  the  last  step,  and  there  was  Mr.  Gurney!  He  was 
dressed  just  as  I  saw  him  last  night,  black  coat  and  grey 
trousers,  his  hat  on,  and  a  roll  of  paper,  like  manuscript,  in  his 
hand,  and  he  said,  'Oh,  good  afternoon.'  And  then  he 


30  THE  NEW  VIEW  OF  GHOSTS 

glanced  all  round  the  kitchen,  and  he  glared  at  me  with  an 
awful  look,  as  if  he  was  going  to  murder  me,  and  said,  '  Warm 
afternoon,  isn't  it  ?'  and  then,  'Good  afternoon*  or  'Good day,' 
I'm  not  sure  which,  and  turned  and  went  up  the  stairs  again, 
and  after  standing  thunderstruck  a  minute,  I  ran  to  the  foot  of 
the  stairs,  and  saw  like  a  boot  just  disappearing  on  the  top 
step.1  She  said,  '  I  think  I  must  be  going  crazy.  Why  should 
I  always  see  something  at  three  o'clock  each  day  after  the 
seance?  But  I  am  not  nearly  so  frightened  as  I  was  at  seeing 
Mr.  Smith.'  She  seemed  particularly  impressed  by  the  awful 
look  Mr  Gurney  gave  her.  I  presume  this  was  the 
hallucination  you  gave  her." 

AMELIA  A.  ELLIS. 

Here,  it  will  be  seen,  was  a  first-class  ghost  evoked 
in  broad  daylight  by  a  mere  suggestion  given  to  the 
percipient  some  eighteen  hours  previously.  But 
there  is  no  need  to  multiply  instances.  Post- 
,  hypnotic  hallucinations  of  this  kind  are  amongst  the 
accepted  facts  of  science.  And  it  has  yet  to  be  shown 
that  these  artificially  produced  hallucinations  differ 
in  any  respect  from  the  "ghosts"  of  which  speci- 
mens are  cited  in  the  preceding  chapter.  In  default 
of  any  such  evidence,  we  are  entitled  to  treat  these 
^  ghosts  as  simply  hallucinations ;  the  creation  in  each 
case  of  the  percipient's  brain.  That  solution  avoids 
the  great  clothes  difficulty,  and  simplifies  the  problem 
in  other  ways.  But  it  leaves  the  question  un- 
answered : — If  these  apparitions  are  simply  hallucina-/ 
tions — waking  dreams — with  no  substantial  reality\ 
behind  them,  how  is  it  that  they  should  so  often  make 
their  appearance  when  the  person  whom  they  \ 
resemble  is  seriously  ill  or  dying ;  or  if,  as  sometimes 
happens,  the  figure  is  unrecognised,  how  does  it  come 
about  that  the  same  figure  is  often  seen  by  others, 
either  simultaneously,  or  at  different  times  in  the  j 
same  house?  Now  if  we  accept  the  broad  facts,  that 
is,  if  we  believe  that  not  only  in  the  five  or  six  cases 
quoted  in  the  last  chapter,  but  in  the  hundreds  of 
other  equally  well-attested  cases  published  of  recent 
years,  there  was  an  hallucinatory  figure  seen,  and 
that  the  vision  really  came  within  a  short  time  of 
a  death  or  illness,  or  was  really  repeated  within 


GHOSTS  AS  HALLUCINATIONS  31 

the  experience  of  some  other  person  or  persons — if 
we  accept  this  statement  of  the  case,  there  are 
obviously  only  two  explanations.  Either  hallucina- 
tions of  this  kind  are  so  common  that  we  might 
reasonably  expect  to  find  such  a  number  of  coinci- 
dences, or  there  is  some  common  cause  for  the 
coincidences.  If  we  find  two  persons  in  the  same 
neighbourhood  reading  a  book  by  Miss  Marie  Corelli, 
we  shall  probably  be  justified  in  attributing  the  co- 
incidence to  chance,  the  mere  caprice  of  Mudie's 
agent.  But  if  we  find  the  two  persons  reading  Basil 
Valentine,  his  Triumphal  Chariot  of  Antimony,  we 
can  hardly  suppose  the  coincidence  to  be  accidental. 
The  question  which  we  have  to  determine  is  whether 
hallucinations  are  relatively  as  common  as  novels  by 
Marie  Corelli,  or  relatively  as  rare  as  mediaeval 
works  on  Alchemy.  That  is  a  question  of  fact,  and 
can  only  be  answered  by  actual  statistics. 

But  even  if  we  find  that  hallucinations  are  of 
sufficiently  rare  occurrence  to  make  the  coincidence 
of  a  hallucination  with  a  death  or  any  other  event 
extremely  improbable,  it  may  be  urged  that  there 
is  not  sufficient  ground  for  inferring  a  causal  con- 
nection between  the  two  events.  The  mere  fact 
that  most  persons  who  have  experienced  these 
hallucinations  believe  in  such  a  connection  has  not 
really  much  to  say  in  the  matter.  For  most 
persons  have  been  used  to  thinking  of  these  appari- 
tions as  ghosts,  and  we  have  seen  that  they  are 
not  ghosts.  But  we  should  not  be  deterred  from 
seeking  for  a  causal  connection  between  the  two  events 
because  it  is  not  immediately  obvious.  Our  ancestors 
saw  no  connection  between  imperfect  drainage  and 
typhoid  fever;  and  the  connection,  in  the  last  genera- 
tion, between  the  rare  visits  of  a  steamer  to  St. 
Kilda  and  an  epidemic  of  catarrh  on  the  island  was 
for  long  a  matter  of  popular  observation  before 
it  was  accepted  by  medical  science. 

But  the  search  for  a  cause  may  well  be  deferred 
until  we  have  some  reasonable  grounds  for  thinking 


32  THE  NEW  VIEW  OF  GHOSTS 

that  any  cause  is  indicated  other  than  the  fallacy  of 
human  testimony.  In  a  scientific  enquiry  the  first 
step  is  to  ascertain  the  facts.  It  so  happens  that, 
whilst  the  hallucinations  of  madness  and  disease 
have  for  long  attracted  the  attention  of  medical  men, 
no  serious  study  had,  until  recently,  been  made  of 
hallucinations  occurring  in  normal  life.  Indeed,  by 
most  persons,  medical  men  and  others,  until  a  genera- 
tion ago,  the  occurrence  of  a  hallucination  would  in 
itself  have  been  held  to  indicate  serious  disturbance 
of  health.  But  the  study  of  Hypnotism,  and  the 
work  of  the  Society  for  Psychical  Research,  pre- 
sently to  be  described,  have  shown  us  that  such  is 
not  the  case.  A  hallucination  is  no  doubt  in  the 
strictest  sense  a  pathological  event,  but  it  is  no  more 
serious,  if  somewhat  rarer,  than  a  toothache  or  such 
a  mild  attack  of  cramp  as  most  persons  occasionally 
experience.  It  has  indeed  been  aptly  defined  as  a 
cramp  of  the  mind.  In  1887  the  late  Professor 
Sidgwick,  at  the  instance  of  the  Congress  of  Experi- 
mental Psychology,  which  met  in  Paris  in  that  year, 
undertook  to  institute  an  enquiry  into  the  nature  and 
distribution  of  spontaneous  hallucinations  of  the 
sane.  He  was  assisted  by  a  committee  of  the  Society 
for  Psychical  Research  and  a  large  staff  of  voluntary 
workers,  who  were  all  carefully  instructed  in  their 
duties.  By  these  means  the  following  question 
was  put  to  17,000  persons,  mostly  residents  of  the 
United  Kingdom —  '  Have  you  ever,  when  believing 
yourself  to  be  completely  awake,  had  a  vivid  impres- 
sion of  seeing  or  being  touched  by  a  living  being  or 
an  inanimate  object,  or  of  hearing  a  voice,  which  im- 
pression, so  far  as  you  could  discover,  was  not  due 
to  any  external  physical  cause?" 

The  results  showed  that  655  out  of  8,372  men,  and 
1,029  out  of  8,628  women — 9*9  per  cent  out  of  the 
whole  number — had  experienced  a  sensory  hallucina- 
tion at  some  time  in  their  lives,  many  more  than 
once.  Of  the  total  number  of  hallucinations  about 
two-thirds  affected  the  sense  of  sight.  The  table  on 


GHOSTS  AS  HALLUCINATIONS 


33 


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34  THE  NEW  VIEW  OF  GHOSTS 

page  33  gives  an  analysis  of  the  nature  of  those 
visions  and  their  distribution  in  time.* 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  great  majority  of 
the  visual  hallucinations  take  the  form  of  realistic 
human  figures ;  in  fact,  other  forms  are  so  few  as  to 
be  almost  negligible.  The  most  important  point, 
evidentially,  to  be  deduced  from  the  table  is  that 
these  hallucinations,  impressive  though  they  no  doubt 
were  at  the  time,  tend  to  be  soon  forgotten.  The 
apparitions  during  the  first  year  are  more  numerous 
than  in  any  previous  year.t  There  is  a  drop  in  the 
second  year,  and  a  still  greater  drop  in  the  other 
years  of  the  decade,  but  a  distinct  rise  in  the  fifth 
and  tenth  year.  This  rise  is,  again,  an  indication  that 
the  figures  are  not  wholly  trustworthy — "  five  years 
ago  "  and  "  ten  years  ago  "  have  no  doubt  been  given 
as  round  numbers.  Once  more,  the  average  age  of 
the  percipients  was  forty,  and  they  were  asked  for 
accounts  of  all  experiences  since  the  age  of  ten.  If 
all  hallucinations  were  remembered  the  figures  in  the 
column  "  more  than  ten  years  ago  "  ought  therefore 
to  be  double  those  in  the  previous  column.  In  fact, 
they  are  only  1 5  per  cent  higher.  After  a  careful  con- 
sideration of  all  the  circumstances,  the  Committee 
estimated  that,  to  arrive  at  the  actual  total  of  visual 
hallucinations  experienced  by  this  group  of  17,000 
persons  during  the  period  in  question,  the  numbers 
in  the  table  should  be  multiplied  by  four. 

We  have  now  to  consider  whether  hallucinations 
of  this  kind  are  sufficiently  frequent  to  justify  the 
assumption  that  their  coincidence — say  with  a  death, 
being  a  unique  event  in  each  man's  experience — is 
due  to  chance  alone. 

If  in  the  table  we  take  only  the  recognised  and 
realistic  apparitions  of  the  human  figure,  and  subtract 
all  doubtful  cases,  i.e.,  cases  where  it  seems  possible 

*  About  three-hundred  cases  in  which  details  of  the  visions  could  only 
be  obtained  at  second-hand  are  omitted  from  the  table. 

f  A  closer  analysis  of  the  figures  revealed  that  the  most  racent  quarter 
and  month  showed  greater  productiveness  than  the  other  quarters  and 
months. 


GHOSTS  AS  HALLUCINATIONS  35 

that  the  figure  seen  may  have  been  that  of  a  real 
man  or  woman,  and  all  cases  where  the  percipient  had 
had  more  than  one  similar  experience,  we  find  that 
we  have  322  cases  to  deal  with.  Multiplied  by  4, 
these  amount  to  1,288,  or  in  round  numbers  1,300. 
But  of  the  322  we  find  62*  are  reported  to  have 
coincided  with  a  death,  i.e,  to  have  occurred  within 
twelve  hours,  on  one  side  or  other,  of  the  death  of 
the  person  represented.  Now  of  the  62  death  coin- 
cidences, 11  are  reported  as  occurring  in  the  pre- 
vious ten  years,  and  51  before  that  date.  The  average 
age  of  the  narrators  of  death  coincidences  is  forty-six 
(that  of  our  informants  generally  being  only  forty), 
so  that,  as  experiences  under  ten  years  of  age  are 
excluded,  there  are  twenty-six  years  included  in  the 
remoter  period.  If  11  experiences  occur  in  10  years, 
we  should  look  for  29  at  most  in  the  remaining  26 
years — we  find  51 !  So  far  from  being  forgotten,  the 
hallucinations  coinciding  with  death  appear  to  be 
remembered  too  well.  It  is  clear  that,  as  the  experi- 
ence recedes  into  the  past,  the  closeness  of  thje 
coincidence  is  apt  to  be  magnified,  or  the  narrative 
in  some  other  way  unconsciously  improved.  After 
making  liberal  allowance  for  this  unconscious  exag- 
geration, and  for  another  disturbing  cause— the 
possible  influence  of  selection  on  the  results! — the 
probable  number  of  death  coincidences  is  reduced 
by  the  Committee  to  30. 

*  Actually  65,  but  three  of  the  cases  are  strongly  suspected  of  having 
been  "  imported  "  into  the  census,  i.e.,  the  persons  who  collected  the 
answers  in  these  three  cases  knew  of  the  vision  beforehand,  and  it  is  be- 
lieved that  but  for  this  knowledge  they  would  not  have  questioned  these 
particular  persons.  These  cases  are  therefore  excluded  from  the 
calculation. 

f  The  non-coincidental  hallucinations,  which  are  much  less  interesting, 
would  probably  not  be  known  beforehand  to  the  collector ;  and  even  if 
they  were,  the  collector  would  not  be  likely  to  go  out  of  his  way  to  collect 
such  an  account.  Further,  apparitions  at  the  time  of  death  are  naturally 
more  talked  about,  the  collectors  would  probably  know  of  some  such 
amongst  their  acquaintance,  and  unless,  in  recording  the  answers,  they 
systematically  canvassed  the  whole  of  the  neighbourhood  accessible  to 
them,  it  is  almost  certain  that  they  would  yield  to  the  temptation  to 
"  bag  "  a  death  coincidence,  even  though  it  did  not,  properly  speaking, 
come  within  their  ground,  See  Proceedings,  S.P.R..  vol.  x,  pp.  210  and  243, 


36  THE  NEW  VIEW  OF  GHOSTS 

We  have,  then,  30  coincidences  with  death  in  1,300 
apparitions.  But  the  death  rate  for  the  last  com- 
pleted decade  (1881-1890)  of  the  period  under  review 
was  1 9' 15,  i.e.,  the  probability  that  any  person  taken 
at  random  would  die  within  any  given  24  hours  was 
19' 15  in  365,000= about  1  in  19,000.  If  there  is  no 
causal  connection  between  the  hallucination  and  the 
death,  we  should  find  but  1  coincidence  in  19,000 — we 
actually  find  1  in  43. 

If  we  accept  the  Committee's  estimates  we  must, 
it  will  be  seen,  dismiss  the  explanation  of  chance 
coincidence.  But  the  Committee's  estimates  may  be 
at  fault  in  two  ways.  On  the  one  hand  they  may  not 
have  allowed  enough  for  forgetfulness  in  ordinary 
cases.  It  is  scarcely  conceivable,  however,  the 
margin  being  so  wide,  that  any  error  in  this  direction 
would  appreciably  affect  the  results.  If  we  multiplied 
the  total  of  322  by  ten,  or  by  a  hundred,  we  should 
still  find  the  non-coincidental  hallucinations  too  few. 

But,  on  the  other  hand,  we  have  seen  that  the 
death  coincidences  have  been  improved  and  exagger- 
ated, and  it  may  be  urged  that  this  process  of  embel- 
lishment may  have  gone  to  far  greater  lengths  than 
is  allowed  for  in  the  estimate.  To  adopt  that  ex- 
planation of  the  results  is  no  doubt  to  assume  grave 
inaccuracies  on  the  part  not  only  of  the  original 
informants,  but  of  their  friends  who  have  furnished 
corroborative  testimony.  And  we  have  to  assume 
these  inaccuracies  in  connection  with  an  event  which 
of  all  others  is  most  calculated  to  leave  a  permanent 
impress  on  the  memory.  Moreover,  in  some  cases 
the  reports  of  the  apparitions  are  supported  by 
entries  in  diaries,  or  contemporary  letters.  The 
assumption  of  wholesale  inaccuracy  in  the  reports  is 
therefore  a  violent  and  improbable  one.  But  since 
we  have  good  reason  for  holding  that  some  at  least 
of  the  reports  are  inaccurate,  we  cannot  summarily 
dismiss  the  objection.  For  the  present  writer, 
indeed,  it  has  considerable  weight ;  it  seems  difficult 
to  place  any  limit  on  the  untrustworthiness  of  human 


GHOSTS  AS  HALLUCINATIONS  37 

testimony,  especially  in  cases  where  the  emotions 
are  involved,  or  where  there  is  occasion  for  edifica- 
tion. And  if  the  hallucinations  alleged  to  coincide 
with  death  were  isolated  phenomena  standing  alto- 
gether alone  in  human  experience,  we  should 
probably  quote  a  hasty  utterance  of  the  Hebrew 
Psalmist  and  pass  on.  But  since,  as  will  be  shown 
in  later  chapters,  they  do  not  stand  alone,  but  appear 
to  fit  into  a  larger  scheme,  the  reader  is  asked  for 
the  present  to  hold  his  judgment  in  suspense,  until 
he  shall  have  the  whole  of  the  facts  before  him. 


38  THE  NEW  VIEW  OF  GHOSTS 


CHAPTER  III 

THE  PEDIGREE  OF  TELEPATHY 

So  far,  we  have  seen  reason  to  believe  that  appari- 
tions occasionally  occur  at  the  time  of  a  death,  that 
these  apparitions  are  not  ghosts  but  hallucinations, 
and  that  they  occur  so  frequently  as  to  render  it,  if 
not  practically  certain,  at  least  a  matter  of  high 
probability  that  they  are  in  some  way  connected 
with  the  death. 

Now  a  hallucination  being  a  product  of  thought,  a 
kind  of  waking  dream,  we  have  next  to  enquire  how 
a  dying,  or  perhaps  a  dead  man,  can  affect  another 
man's  thought  and  make  him  dream  a  dream.  Ort 
this  point  science  has  no  explanation  to  offer.  The 
facts  already  cited,  and  other  kindred  facts  which 
will  be  considered  in  a  later  chapter,  clearly  indicate 
such  a  possibility,  and  the  hypothetical  process  has 
been  named  Thought  Transference  or  Telepathy 
(from  Greek  tele,  at  a  distance,  and  pathos,  feeling). 
But  the  name  is  not  explanatory ;  it  is,  like  Gravita- 
tion, a  name  for  an  observed  or  presumed  process 
of  which  no  clear  conception  has  yet  been  formed. 
The  theory  of  gravitation  simply  expresses  the  ob- 
served fact,  that  all  bodies  in  the  Universe  exercise 
a  certain  pull  upon  each  other,  or  rather  act  as  if 
they  exercised  such  a  pull.  Newton  measured  the 
pull,  but  did  not  explain  it. 

The  theory  of  Telepathy  simply  collects  into  one 
generalisation  a  number  of  observations,  tending  to 
shew  that  under  certain  conditions  not  yet  under- 
stood a  human  mind  or  brain  can  act  upon  another 
mind  or  brain  by  means  of  which  we  are  as  yet 
ignorant.  Just  as  there  are  theories  which  essay  to 
explain  the  action  of  gravitation  in  accordance  with 


THE  PEDIGREE  OF  TELEPATHY  39 

what  we  know  or  guess  of  the  physical  construction 
of  the  Universe,  so  it  has  been  suggested  that  the 
action  of  Telepathy  may  consist  in  the  transfer  of 
molecular  disturbance  from  one  brain  to  another  by 
means  of  ethereal  vibrations.  We  know,  or  perhaps 
it  should  rather  be  said,  we  infer,  that  there  are 
molecular  changes  in  brain  cells  corresponding  to 
all  acts  of  thinking  or  feeling ;  we  know,  too,  that 
there  are  gaps  in  the  scale  of  ethereal  vibrations ; 
and  there  is  nothing  to  forbid  the  supposition  that 
one  or  other  of  these  gaps  may  hereafter  be  found 
to  be  filled  by  undulations  competent  to  convey 
intelligence  from  one  brain  to  another.* 

But  beyond  this  there  are  no  facts  to  go  upon ;  the 
theory  of  Telepathy  is  as  much  in  the  air  as  the 
theory  of  gravitation  itself,  and  it  need  scarcely  be 
said,  is  immensely  inferior  to  it  in  the  breadth  and 
security  of  its  basis.  Even  with  this  qualification, 
to  compare  Telepathy,  a  humble  postulant  for 
scientific  recognition,  with  the  great  generalisation 
which  is  the  chief  glory  of  modern  science  may  seem 
almost  an  impertinence ;  but,  in  fact,  the  two  theories 
are  closely  related,  though  Telepathy,  it  must  be 
admitted,  figures  at  present  as  a  very  poor  relation. 
For  the  conception  of  an  inexplicable  force  linking 
the  stars  together,  and  the  conception  of  an  inex- 
plicable force  linking  men  and  women  to  each  other 
are  in  their  origin  but  different  aspects  of  the  same 
primitive  idea.  Both  alike  proceed  from  astrology ; 
the  Chaldean  astronomers,  gazing  at  the  stars  from 
their  Babel-towers,  conceived  the  idea  of  a  subtle 
influence  binding  together  all  the  heavenly  bodies 
and  directing  their  wanderings.  It  was  but  a  short 
step  to  suppose  that  these  same  influences  which 
radiated  from  star  to  star  affected  also  the  dwellers 
upon  earth.  The  belief  in  these  starry  influences  as 
affecting  the  affairs  of  men  persisted  through  the 
Middle  Ages  and  almost  into  modern  times.  Vafi 

*  See  Sir  William  Crookes's    presidential    address   to  the   British 
Association,  September,  1898. 


40  THE  NEW  VIEW  OF  GHOSTS 

Helmont,  one  of  the  most  distinguished  physicians 
and  chemists  of  his  day,  whose  life  overlapped  by  a 
year  or  two  that  of  Sir  Isaac  Newton,  took  the  facts 
of  astrology  as  beyond  controversy.  "  Ye  grant,"  he 
says  in  one  of  his  polemical  writings,  "  that  material 
nature  doth  daily  draw  down  Forces  by  its  magnetism 
from  the  superior  orbs,  and  much  desire  the  favour 
of  the  celestial  bodies,  and  that  the  Heavens  do  in 
exchange  invisibly  allure  something  from  the  inferior 
bodies,  that  there  may  be  a  free  and  mutual  passage 
and  a  harmonious  concord  of  the  members  with  the 
whole  Universe."  * 

And  some  even  of  Van  Helmont's  successors  found 
specific  illustrations  of  this  reciprocal  influence 
between  all  things  in  the  universe  in  the  relation 
between  physican  and  patient,  between  disease  and 
health-giving  drugs,  and  between  witch  and  victim. 
As  star  could  influence  star  across  the  void,  so  herbs 
and  gems  could  heal  disease  at  a  distance.  The  wise 
physician  could  read  the  thoughts  of  his  patient  from 
afar,  and  the  witch,  a  kind  of  malefic  star,  could 
project  her  baleful  influence  on  her  fellows.  By  like 
means  spirits  could  read  the  thoughts  of  those  who 
questioned  them,  and  in  this  power  to  read  thoughts 
the  Mediaeval  Church  found  the  surest  test  of  the 
presence  of  a  demon  in  the  patient. 

In  a  word,  this  belief  in  unseen  mental  influences 
is  probably  as  old  as  the  earliest  civilisation  of  which 
we  have  any  records.  At  the  present  day  the  belief 
in  similar  processes,  whether  of  reading  the  thoughts 
of  other  men,  or  of  obtaining  information  from  direct 
communion  with  the  natural  world,  or  of  inflicting 
disease  or  death  by  the  mere  act  of  will,  is  found  in 
many  uncivilized  races.  The  person  exercising  the 
power  usually  passes  into  a  kind  of  self-induced 
trance  or  delirium,  apparently  like  that  of  the 
Pythian  priestess,  who  chanted  oracles  to  the 
ancient  Greeks.  Two  or  three  instances  may  be 
cited  from  recent  records. 

*  Work&t  London,  1644,  p.  762. 


THE  PEDIGREE  OF  TELEPATHY  41 

Mr.  Robert  Augear,  writing  in  August,  1894,  from 
Thursday  Island,  Torres  Straits,  relates  a  case  told 
him  by  a  native  named  Ganna,  whom  he  regarded  as 
thoroughly  trustworthy.  When  working  in  the  Fiji 
Islands  one  of  Ganna's  companions  from  a  totally 
different  part  of  the  South  Seas  was  taken  ill  with 
dysentery,  and  talked  freely  in  delirium ;  "  but  it  was 
not  his  voice  that  was  speaking,  it  was  in  his  belly  he 
was  talking."  In  this  state  he  told  Ganna  many 
particulars  about  his  people  at  home  and  of  the  death 
of  some  of  his  acquaintance,  all  of  which  news  Ganna 
afterwards  found  to  be  true.* 

Dr.  Isaac  Heysinger,  of  Philadelphia,  contributes 
a  remarkable  account  of  Esquimaux  Anticoot 
(Angekok)  which  he  had  received  from  Robert 
Ferguson,  of  New  Bedford,  at  one  time  a  harpooner 
on  a  whaling  ship.  Ferguson  spent  the  winter  of 
of  1878-9  on  Marble  Island,  in  the  north  of  Hudson's 
Bay.  On  the  14th  March,  1879,  a  party  of 
Esquimaux  left  Marble  Island  to  hunt  on  the  floes 
for  seals  and  walrus.  As  after  some  days'  absence 
they  had  not  returned,  a  native  undertook  to  make 
Anticoot,  and  in  a  state  of  apparent  trance  professed 
to  see  the  party,  and  to  learn  from  them  what  had 
happened.  In  effect,  his  statements  that  they  were 
all  alive,  that  they  had  been  carried  away  by  the 
breaking  up  of  the  floe,  that  they  had  eaten  their 
dogs  and  their  shoes,  that  their  cheeks  were  cracked 
by  the  frost,  and  that  one  of  them  whom  he  named 
would  return  first  alone,  were  all  verified  a  few  days 
later,  t 

Again,  Dr.  Andrew  Felkin  relates  that,  when  he 
was  at  Lago  with  Emin  Pasha,  a  native  M'logo  or 
wizard  professed  one  night  to  have  travelled  to 
Meschera-er-Rek,  550  miles  down  the  river,  and  to 
have  there  seen  two  steamers,  one  of  them  bringing 
mails  for  the  party,  commanded  by  an  Englishman, 

*  Journal  for  the  Society  for  Psychical  Research,  June,  i8>6,  p.  274. 
t  Journal  of  the  American  S.P.R.,  January,  1909.    Ferguson's  state* 
mem  was  written  in  1902. 


42  THE  NEW  VIEW  OF  GHOSTS 

a  short  man  with  a  big  beard  (Lupton  Bey).  The 
wizard  added  that  the  Englishman  would  arrive  in 
about  thirty  days ;  in  fact  he  came  thirty-two  days 
later,  and  Dr.  Felkin  expresses  himself  wholly  unable 
to  explain  whence  the  wizard  could  have  derived  his 
information.* 

Isolated  narratives  of  this  kind  can  hardly  be  ac- 
cepted as  evidence  for  the  actual  exercise  amongst 
savage  races  of  supernormal  powers  of  acquiring 
information ;  but  they  are  evidence  of  a  wide-spread 
belief  in  such  powers,  and  the  existence  of  such  a 
belief,  and  of  facts  which  are  interpreted  as  support- 
ing it,  has  clearly  some  bearing  on  the  question  of 
the  existence  of  similar  powers  amongst  civilized 
races  of  the  present  day.  It  so  happens  that  there 
is  a  large  amount  of  evidence  for  the  existence  in 
modern  times  of  a  similar  faculty  of  clear-seeing  in 
a  state  of  trance.  There  is,  however,  a  notable  dif- 
ference in  the  conditions.  In  the  earlier  historical 
records,  as  amongst  uncivilized  races  at  the  present 
day,  the  trance  seems  generally  to  be  spontaneous  or 
self -induced.  In  recent  times,  the  faculty  of  clear- 
seeing  or  Clairvoyance  has  been  observed  chiefly  in 
the  induced  Somnambulic  trance,  what  is  commonly 
known  as  the  Hypnotic  or  Mesmeric  state.  The  fact 
that  the  trance  was  generally  induced  by  an  educated 
observer  offered,  of  course,  excellent  opportunities 
for  the  careful  observation  and  record  of  the 
phenomena.  Unfortunately,  for  reasons  which  we 
need  not  here  stay  to  discuss,  the  earlier  writers  on 
Animal  Magnetism  and  Mesmerism  were  for  the 
most  part  in  too  great  a  hurry  to  take  the  necessary 
precautions  for  guarding  against  mistake  or  decep- 
tion. The  older  evidence  is  therefore  more  notable 
for  its  quantity  than  its  quality,  and  the  faculty 
appears  to  be  in  itself  of  such  rare  occurrence  as  to 

*  From  Khartoum  to  the  Sources  of  the  Nile,  Wide  World  Magazine, 
1898,  p.  361.  Some  further  references  to  trance-divination  amongst 
savage  races  will  be  found  quoted  in  Mr.  Lang's  Making  ef  Religion 
(1898)  in  the  chapter  headed  "  Opening  the  Gates  of  Distance,"  the  Zulu 
name  for  what  is  commonly  called  Clairvoyance. 


THE  PEDIGREE  OF  TELEPATHY  43 

make  us  regret  the  more  these  lost  opportunities. 
Instances  of  the  faculty  have,  however,  occasionally 
been  observed  under  favourable  conditions  by  recent 
students.  The  following  case,  recorded  by  Dr. 
Quackenbos,  a  well-known  writer  on  Hypnotism  who 
has  made  extensive  use  of  hypnotic  methods  in  his 
own  practice,  may  be  cited  as  evidence  of  the  exis- 
tence in  our  own  day  of  the  faculty  of  clear-seeing 
or  Clairvoyance  in  the  trance. 

No.  8. — From  Dr.  Quackenbos. 

[Anna  Fprtwanger,  23  years  of  age,  a  peasant  girl  of  Southern 
Germany,  ignorant  of  English,  was  brought  in  November,  1904, 
to  the  author's  office  in  New  York  by  her  employer,  who  was 
at  the  time  a  member  of  the  English  S.P.R. 

The  girl's  master  then  and  there  threw  her  into  a  hypnotic 
sleep,  the  genuineness  of  which  was  tested  by  various  methods. 
The  girl  was  then  directed  to  proceed  ('  in  the  Spirit/  that  is) 
out  of  the  room,  to  pass  up  two  flights  of  stairs,  to  enter  a  large 
front  room  with  an  alcove  in  it,  and  to  describe  what  she  saw 
there.  Neither  the  girl  nor  her  employer  had  ever  been  in  the 
house  before. 

The  directions  and  the  questions  were  all  put  in  German  by 
the  hypnotiser,  and  the  answers  were  of  course  also  in  that 
language.] 

"  I.  What  do  you  see? — '  A  round  table  with  books  on  it.' 

"  (The  table  stood  in  front  of  the  door,  and  would  naturally 
attract  immediate  attention.) 

"II.  What  else  do  you  see  ? — '  A  large  picture  of  a  lady  on 
the  wall.' 

"  (My  wife  has  an  engraving  of  a  Raphael  Madonna  over  the 
mantel,  and  three  other  pictures.) 

"  Describe  them.* — '  One  is  a  picture  of  a  horse.' 

"  (This  answer  I  regarded  as  an  error ;  but  a  subsequent  in- 
spection of  the  room  disclosed  on  the  mantel  shelf,  under  the 
Madonna,  a  small  photograph  of  one  of  my  horses,  sent  to  the 
house  a  day  or  two  before,  and  placed  there  inadvertently  by 
my  wife.) 

"III.  What  else  do  you  see ? — '  Seven  chairs.' 

"  (No  member  of  the  family  was  aware  that  there  were  so 
many  chairs  in  the  room.) 

"  IV.  Is  there  anything  else  in  the  room  you  would  like  to 
speak  of  ? — *  Yes,  a  bed  with  a  little  darling.' 

"  Do  you  mean  a  doll? — '  No,  a  real  live  darling.' 

*  It  is  not  expressly  stated  that  the  clairvoyant  had  mentioned  the 
existence  of  other  pictures ;  probably  the  conversation  is  not  narrated 

verbatim. 


44  THE  NEW  VIEW  OF  GHOSTS 

*  Describe  her. — '  She  has  light  hair,  and  is  pretty.' 
14  How  old  would  you  say  she  is  ? — '  Eight  years.' 

"(The  exact  age  of  my  little  daughter  Kathryn,  who  was 
asleep  in  the  alcove.) 

"Witness  :  John  H.  Thompson,  Jr.,  Old  Bridge,  New  Jersey. 

"  At  a  second  seance  the  same  fall  there  were  present  Mrs. 
Jordan  L.  Mott,  Mrs.  Frances  Hodgson  Burnett,  Miss  Evelina 
S.  Hamilton,  Mr.  William  S.  Walsh,  of  the  New  York  Herald, 
Mrs.  Leslie  Cotton,  the  portrait  painter.  A  room  on  the 
second  floor  was  selected  for  the  experiment,  which  again  was 
a  terra  incognita  both  to  operator  and  subject.  The  questions 
were  put : 

"  What  do  you  see  ?— '  A  bed.' 

"  What  is  on  the  bed  ?— '  A  folded  quilt.' 

*  What  is  on  the  quilt  ?— *  A  fox. ' 

"  (I  had  placed  a  folded  comforter  on  the  bed  as  a  support  for 
a  fox-skin  with  a  stuffed  head,  which  I  fancied  would  engage 
Anna's  subjective  attention — and  it  did.  She  is  quick  to 
perceive  animals.) 

"  What  else  do  you  see  ? — *  A  picture  of  a  man  and  a  picture 
of  a  woman.1 

"Where  ?— '  On  the  wall  beside  the  bed.' 

"(Pictures  of  George  and  Martha  Washington,  in  colour, 
hung  on  that  wall,  above  the  headboard.) 

"What  else  ? — '  A  commode  with  round  drawers.' 

"  (Quite  an  original  description  of  an  old  mahogany  bureau 
with  drawers  conspicuously  convexed.) 

"What  else  ? — *  A  green  flower.' 

"  (I  had  placed  an  araucaria  on  a  stand  near  the  centre  of  the 
room.) 

"Any  other  pictures  ? — *  Yes,  many  large  ones.' 

"  (The  walls  were  covered.) 

"  Do  you  see  one  over  the  mantel  ? — '  Yes.' 

"  What  do  you  see  in  it  ? — *  A  poodle  hund.' 

"  (There  is  in  the  foreground  of  the  painting  a  man  returning 
from  the  hunt,  with  a  gun  on  his  shoulder  and  a  spaniel  trotting 
by  his  side.  The  animal  appealed  to  Anna  at  once.) 

"The  same  subject  gave  other  proofs  of  clairvoyance  or 
mind-reading."* 

Another  wide  world  method  of  Divination  is  by 
means  of  crystal  gazing.  Traces  of  the  practice  are 
said  to  be  found  in  ancient  Egypt,  Assyria,  and 
Persia.  It  was  certainly  well-known  in  classical 
times,  and  persisted  through  the  ages  down  as  far 
as  our  own  Dr.  Dee  in  the  seventeenth  century. 

*  Hypnotic  Therapeutics  by  John  Duncan  Quackenbos,  A.M.  M.D.,  19081 


THE  PEDIGREE  OF  TELEPATHY  45 

The  art  of  crystal  gazing  is  perhaps  as  old  as  civilisa- 
tion itself,  and  its  range  in  space  is  as  extensive  as 
in  time,  for  the  practice  is  found  at  the  present  day 
amongst  savage  races  in  all  quarters  of  the  world. 
A  practice  thus  almost  universal  must  needs  have 
some  natural  justification.  In  fact  the  physiological 
effect  of  the  crystal,  mirror,  water,  or  other  shining 
surface  (for  various  substances  have  been  used  in 
this  form  of  divination)  is  still  rather  obscure,  but  it 
unquestionably  tends,  in  many  persons,  to  produce  a 
state  of  reverie,  not  infrequently  passing  over  into 
actual  trance,  which  is  peculiarly  favourable  for  the 
production  of  day  dreams.  The  visions  seen  in  the 
crystal  are  no  doubt  really  seen  "  in  the  mind's  eye/' 
but  are  referred  to  the  crystal  because  of  the  inevit- 
able tendency  to  refer  to  the  external  world  any  per- 
cept having  a  sensory  quality.  The  crystal  visions 
are,  in  short,  rudimentary  or  half  developed  hallu- 
cinations, and  the  use  of  a  crystal  is  simply  a 
convenient  method  for  inducing  the  appropriate 
mental  state. 

Mr.  Andrew  Lang  and  the  late  F.  W.  H.  Myers 
have  persuaded  many  persons  to  revive  this  ancient 
art,  and  it  is  found  that  the  power  to  see  visions  in 
a  crystal  is  by  no  means  rare.  Most  of  these  visions 
are,  of  course,  like  ordinary  dreams,  mere  fragmen- 
tary memories,  but  it  sometimes  happens  that  a 
crystal  reflects  to  the  eyes  of  the  seer  not  his  own 
thoughts  but  the  thoughts  of  another.  Here  is  an 
instance  in  point  quoted  by  Mr.  Lang.  Miss  Angus 
(assumed  name)  is  one  of  many  ladies  who  have  been 
persuaded  by  Mr.  Lang  to  try  the  crystal.  The  fol- 
lowing incident,  which  took  place  in  March,  1897,  was 
told  by  her  to  Mr.  Lang  in  June  of  the  same  year. 
Later,  she  wrote  the  account  of  it  as  follows : 

No.  9. — From  Miss  Angus. 

M  Shortly  after  I  became  the  happy  possessor  of  a  crystal,  I 
managed  to  convert  several  very  decided  sceptics  ;  one  was  a 

Mr. who  was  so  determined  to  baffle  me,  he  said  he  would 

think  of  a  friend  it  would  not  be  possible  for  me  to  describe.    I 


46  THE  NEW  VIEW  OF  GHOSTS 

had  only  met  Mr. the  day  before  and  knew  almost  nothing 

about  him  or  his  personal  friends.  I  took  up  the  ball,  which 
immediately  became  misty,  and  out  of  this  mist,  gradually,  a 
crowd  of  people  appeared,  but  too  indistinctly  for  me  to  recog- 
nise anyone,  until  suddenly  a  man  on  horse-back  came  gallop- 
ing along.  I  remember  saying,  '  I  can't  describe  what  he  is 
like,  but  he  is  dressed  in  a  very  queer  way,  in  something  so 
bright  that  the  sun  shining  on  him  quite  dazzles  me  and  I  can't 
make  him  out.'  As  he  came  nearer  I  exclaimed  *  Why,  it's  a 
soldier  in  shining  armour,  but  it's  not  an  officer,  only  a  soldier.1 

Two  friends  who  were  in  the  room  said  Mr. 's  excitement 

was  intense,  and  my  attention  was  called  from  the  ball  by  hear- 
ing him  call  out  '  It's  wonderful.  It's  perfectly  true.  I  was 
thinking  of  a  young  boy,  the  son  of  a  crofter,  in  whom  I  am 

deeply  interested,  and  who  is  a  trooper  in  the in  London, 

which  would  account  for  the  crowd  of  people  round  him  in  the 
street.1" 

Mr. writes  under  date  2nd  December,  1897 : 

"  I  fixed  my  mind  upon  a  friend,  a  young  trooper  in  the  (regi- 
ment named),  as  I  thought  his  would  be  a  striking  and  peculiar 
personality  owing  to  his  uniform,  and  also  that  I  felt  sure  that 
Miss  Angus  could  not  possibly  know  of  his  existence.  I  fixed 
my  mind  steadily  on  my  friend  and  presently  Miss  Angus,  who 
had  already  seen  two  cloudy  visions  of  people,  called  out, '  Now 
I  see  a  man  on  a  horse  most  distinctly ;  he  is  dressed  most 
queerly  and  glitters  all  over;  why  it's  a  soldier,  a  soldier  in 
uniform,  but  it's  not  an  officer.1  My  excitement  on  hearing 
this  was  so  great  that  I  ceased  to  concentrate  my  mind  on  the 
thought  of  my  friend,  and  the  vision  faded  away  and  could  not 
afterwards  be  recalled."* 

We  have  record  of  a  case  in  which  the  wife  of  a 
railway  guard,  when  about  to  drink  a  glass  of  water 
one  night,  saw  in  the  shining  surface  the  picture  of 
a  railway  accident,  a  picture  which  was  actually 
present  to  her  husband's  eyes  at  about  the  same 
time.t 

The  recent  records  of  crystal  vision  assuredly 
help  to  explain  the  esteem  in  which  the  crystal  was 
held  by  old  time  diviners. 


*  The  Making  of  Religion  by  Andrew  Lang,  pp.  99-101, 

f  Journal,  S.P.R.,  December.  1903.  Many  other  records  of  apparently 
telepathic  visions  in  the  crystal  will  be  found  in  the  publications  of  the 
Society  for  Psychical  Research,  in  Mr.  Lang's  Making  of  Religion  and 
other  works,  and  in  Miss  Goodrich  Freer's  Essays  in  Psvchical  Research. 


THE  EXPERIMENTAL  BASIS  47 


CHAPTER  IV 

THB    EXPERIMENTAL    BASIS 

TELEPATHY  is,  of  course,  still  on  its  trial,  and  it 
may  be  doubted  whether  the  facts  considered  in  the 
last  chapter  add  more  to  the  case  for  the  claimant 
than  they  take  away  from  it ;  for  the  argument  quod 
semper,  quod  ubique,  quod  ab  omnibus,  is  a  two- 
edged  weapon.  A  universal  belief  may  be  firmly 
based  upon  accurate  observation  and  sound  infer- 
ence from  universal  facts.  On  the  other  hand,  as 
the  natural  history  of  humanity  shews,  a  universal 
belief  in  the  earliest  stages  of  culture  frequently 
derives  much  of  its  strength  from  an  erroneous,  or 
at  least  an  imperfect,  interpretation  of  natural 
phenomena ;  whilst  at  a  later  stage  the  existence  of 
a  belief  is  a  most  potent  factor  in  the  creation  of  its 
own  evidence.  In  the  particular  field  which  we  are 
now  investigating  the  universal  belief  owes  its 
creative  potency  to  the  fact  that  it  works  for  the 
most  part  unconsciously.  Much  of  the  so-called 
evidence  for  divination  in  the  past  and  for  telepathy 
in  the  present  is  unquestionably  worthless,  and  some 
of  it  presents  all  the  appearance  of  a  manufactured 
article.  Deliberate  fraud,  whether  of  savage  medicine 
man  or  of  civilized  medium,  is  no  doubt  frequently 
responsible  for  the  results,  but  it  would  be  a  mistake 
to  attribute  all,  or  most,  of  the  evidence  to  deliberate 
fraud.  It  is  fatally  easy,  as  has  already  been  shewn, 
to  misinterpret  the  data  of  the  senses,  and  to  embel- 
lish the  picture  preserved  in  the  memory ;  and  if  we 
have  a  ready  made  mould  handed  down  from  a  long 
line  of  ancestors  and  sanctioned  by  sacred  usage, 
there  is  grave  danger  that  the  crude  facts  of  sense 
will  be  poured  into  the  mould  and  emerge  duly 


48  THE  NEW  VIEW  OF  GHOSTS 

fashioned  on  the  time  honoured  pattern.  And  it  is 
easy  to  leave  out  any  angular  fact  which  won't  be 
poured  in. 

On  the  whole,  then,  the  suspicion  and  dislike  of 
telepathy  which  still  linger  in  scientific  circles  are 
natural  and  not  altogether  unreasonable.  The 
hypothesis  would  be  more  likely  to  find  a  welcome 
if  it  came  as  a  complete  stranger;  it  is  too  well- 
known,  if  not  always  to  the  police,  at  least  to  the 
anthropologist.  We  cannot  therefore  rely  on  the 
testimony  of  the  past.  If  we  desire  to  prove  the 
existence  of  mental  suggestion,  we  must  seek  our 
evidence  from  living  men  and  women,  and  that  brings 
us  to  a  further  difficulty. 

In  the  last  chapter  the  theory  of  telepathy  was 
likened  to  the  theory  of  gravitation  in  that  neither 
can  be  explained,  that  is,  fitted  into  the  general 
scheme  of  things.  But  if  a  man  is  inclined  to  doubt 
the  truth  of  the  theory  of  gravitation,  he  has  only  to 
weigh  the  moon,  hang  a  plumb  line  before  the  steep 
face  of  Schiehallion,  or  spend  a  few  hours  in  the 
nearest  physical  laboratory.  The  force  of  gravity, 
whatever  it  may  be,  acts  at  all  times  and  in  all  things. 
Now  what  we  have  called  telepathy  appears  to  act 
most  readily  in  moments  of  some  emotional  crisis, 
that  is  spontaneously ;  it  can  indeed  be  reproduced 
experimentally,  but  the  persons  who  exhibit  the 
faculty  in  any  considerable  degree  are  rare.  Trained 
investigators  who  have  the  leisure  to  investigate  are 
also  rare;  and  the  conjunction  of  the  two  must  be 
an  event  rarer  still.  Notwithstanding  these  difficul- 
ties the  experimental  evidence  would  in  most  other 
subjects  of  inquiry  be  held  amply  sufficient  to  prove 
the  thesis.  That  it  is  not  at  present  held  sufficient 
by  scientific  men  generally,  and  that  telepathy  is, 
as  already  said,  still  on  its  trial,  is  due  to  the  fact 
that  we  cannot  explain  its  operation,  cannot  shew  the 
general  laws  under  which  it  works,  cannot,  in  a  word, 
fit  it  into  the  scheme  of  the  Universe. 

An  illustration  may  be  taken  from  the  field  of  the 


THE  EXPERIMENTAL  BASIS  49 

physical  sciences.  Stones  have  been  falling  from  the 
sky  since  the  beginning  of  time,  but  the  stories  of 
falling  stones  were,  until  recently,  treated  much  as 
ghost  stories  are  treated  now,  welcomed  by  vulgar, 
rejected,  or  at  least  not  accepted,  by  scientific  opinion. 
If  falling  stones  are  now  universally  credited,  it  is 
not  because  intelligent  witnesses  have  seen  them  fall, 
nor  even  because  we  have  actual  specimens  of  them 
in  our  museums.  If  there  was  nothing  more  to  be 
said  on  the  matter,  the  mass  of  scientific  men  would 
probably  still  listen  to  reports  of  falling  stones  as 
they  now  listen  to  tales  of  ghosts  and  sea  serpents. 
Science  has  no  use  for  isolated  facts.  Falling  stones 
are  believed  in  because  they  are  seen  to  fit  in  with 
what  is  known  from  other  sources  of  the  constitution 
of  the  Universe  outside  our  planet.  We  know  that 
there  are  countless  small  bodies,  fragments  of  worlds 
destroyed,  or  dust  of  worlds  unmade,  which  are  fly- 
ing through  space  round  the  sun,  and  that  when  any 
of  these  bodies  come  within  the  earth's  attraction 
they  are  either  burnt  up  as  meteors  and  falling  stars 
or  reach  the  earth  as  aerolites.  If  further  evidence 
is  needed  we  find  it  in  their  chemical  composition  ; 
for  though  no  new  element  is  found  in  siderolites  and 
aerolites,  these  bodies  are  so  like  each  other  and  so 
unlike  any  other  stones  in  the  earth's  surface  as  to 
make  their  common  nature  certain  and  their  extra- 
terrestrial origin  plausible.  Now  we  who  have  made 
successful  experiments  in  telepathy  are  in  the  case 
of  those  persons  a  century  ago  who  had  seen  stones 
fall  from  the  sky.  If  it  is  retorted  on  us,  as  it  was 
retorted  on  those  earlier  observers,  that  there  are 
no  stones'  in  the  sky,  and  therefore  no  stones  can 
fall  upon  the  earth,  we  can  only  reply,  "  We  have 
seen  what  we  have  seen."  We  can  indeed  go  on  to 
point  out  that  our  falling  stones  appear  to  be  akin  to 
those  meteors  of  the  mind,  Ghosts  and  Clairvoyant 
visions.  But  until  we  can  arrange  and  catalogue  our 
facts  under  the  general  laws  of  the  microcosm  man, 
as  these  other  facts  are  arranged  and  catalogued 

n 


50  THE  NEW  VIEW  OF  GHOSTS 

under  the  general  laws  of  the  larger  cosmos,  we  can 
get  no  nearer  to  recognition.  Our  meteors  and  our 
aerolites  belong,  perhaps,  to  the  same  category,  but 
to  explain  one  by  the  other  is  to  explain  the  dubious 
by  the  aid  of  the  unknown.  The  present  attitude  of 
official  science  to  our  facts  is  therefore  natural  if  not 
wholly  justifiable.  It  may  be  claimed,  indeed,  that  of 
late  years  the  suspicion  with  which  the  subject  was 
at  one  time  almost  universally  regarded  has  consider- 
ably lessened,  that  greater  hospitality  by  a  much 
larger  circle  of  intelligent  men  is  shewn  to  the  new 
views.  But  further,  more  prolonged,  and  more 
varied  experiments  are  needed  to  the  end  that  we 
may  ultimately  succeed  in  establishing  the  theory 
by  shewing  the  laws  under  which  the  assumed  new 
force  operates,  and  its  relations  with  other  facts  in 
physics  and  psychology. 

Owing  chiefly  to  the  lack  of  good  subjects  readily 
available  for  the  purpose,  few  prolonged  records  of 
successful  experiments  can  be  cited.  The  most 
important  series  conducted  under  expert  guidance  is 
that  undertaken  by  Mrs.  Sidgwick  in  the  years  1880- 
1891,  in  conjunction  with  the  late  Professor  Henry 
Sidgwick  and  Miss  Alice  Johnson.  The  percipients 
were  several  young  clerks  and  shop  assistants. 
They  were  hypnotised  during  the  progress  of  the 
experiment,  the  operator  being  Mr.  G.  A.  Smith. 
As  the  object  was  to  obtain  definite  proof  of  the 
possibility  of  the  transmission  of  ideas  from  one 
mind  to  another  without  the  intervention  of  the 
senses,  the  experiments  were  made  as  simple  as 
possible.  For  the  main  series  counters  belonging  to 
a  game  called  Lotto  were  employed,  the  counters 
being  numbered  consecutively  from  10  to  90.  The 
81  counters  would  be  placed  in.  a  bag  and  one  would 
be  drawn  from  the  bag  by  one  of  the  experimenters 
and  handed  to  Mr.  Smith,  who  would  concentrate 
his  attention  upon  it.  After  a  short  interval  the 
percipient  would  give  his  impression  aloud.  In 
the  earlier  experiments,  whore  Mr.  Smith  and  the 


THE  EXPERIMENTAL  BASIS  51 

percipient  were  in  the  same  room,  within  a  few  feet  of 
each  other,  the  number  of  successful  guesses  made 
by  some  of  the  percipients  was  extraordinarily  large. 
Thus  in  617  trials  with  the  young  men  P.  and  T.  the 
exact  number  was  given  113  times,  the  most  probable 
number  by  chance  being  8.  This  result  could  not, 
of  course,  have  been  due  to  chance.  The  conditions 
of  the  experiment  were  rigid,  and  it  is  certain  that 
the  percipient  could  not  have  gained  any  information 
by  sight  or  touch.  The  one  avenue  of  communica- 
tion which  it  is  impossible  absolutely  to  close  when 
the  parties  to  the  experiment  are  within  a  few  feet 
of  each  other  is,  of  course,  hearing.  The  experi- 
menters were  thoroughly  familiar  with  the  ordinary 
possibilities  of  codes.  They  had  previous  experience 
in  detecting  tricks  of  the  kind,  and,  even  if  those  con- 
cerned would  have  been  willing  to  lend  themselves 
to  trickery,  it  seems  certain  that  no  trickery  could 
have  been  employed  which  would  have  escaped  the 
vigilance  of  the  investigators  during  the  months  over 
which  the  experiments  extended.  No  suspicious 
sounds  were  audible  to  those  who  conducted  the 
experiments;  but  it  is  well  known  that  hypnotic 
subjects  frequently  exhibit  amazing  acuteness  of 
hearing,  and  if  Mr.  Smith  had  unconsciously  muttered 
the  numbers  it  is  conceivable  that  the  hyperaesthetic 
organs  of  the  subject  might  have  caught  sounds  too 
faint  to  reach  the  ears  of  those  who  stood  close  to 
him.  That  no  movements  were  observed  in  Mr. 
Smith's  lips  and  throat  would  not  negative  this 
supposition,  since  it  is  possible,  even  with  closed  lips, 
to  produce  audible  sounds. 

But  if  the  correct  guesses  were  due  to  hearing,  the 
incorrect  guesses  would  presumably  shew  traces  of 
imperfect  hearing.  If  a  digit  were  sub-consciously 
whispered,  it  would  be  liable  to  be  mistaken  for 
another  of  similar  sound,  six  for  seven  because  of  the 
sibilant  "s,"  five  for  four  because  of  the  initial  "  f,"  or 
for  nine  because  of  the  long  vowel,  and  so  on.  If  the 
numbers  were  sub-consciously  counted  by  the  agent 


52  THE  NEW  VIEW  OF  GHOSTS 

the  incorrect  guesses  would  tend  to  fall  with  dispro- 
portionate frequency  on  the  numbers  next  above  or 
below  in  the  series.  In  fact,  a  careful  analysis  of 
the  incorrect  guesses,  made  by  Professor  Sidgwick, 
reveals  no  such  tendency.  The  incorrect  guesses 
are  distributed  at  haphazard  over  the  whole  series  of 
numbers.  This  fact  in  itself  is  almost  sufficient  to 
disprove  the  hypothesis  of  auditory  signals  of  any 
kind.* 

Nevertheless,  to  secure  results  free  from  all 
suspicion  a  further  series  of  experiments  was 
instituted,  in  which  agent  and  percipient  were  placed 
in  different  rooms.  Of  the  two  previous  percipients 
P.  alone  was  successful  when  a  closed  door  inter- 
vened between  him  and  Mr.  Smith.  In  91  trials 
made  under  such  conditions  he  gave  the  number 
correctly  five  times  and  the  first  digit  alone  eighteen 

*  The  only  serious  criticism  of  these  earlier  results  is  contained  in  an 
article  by  Messrs.  Hansen  and  Lehmann,  of  Copenhagen,  published  some 
ten  years  ago  (Wundt's  Phil.  Studien,  vol.  xi,  pt.  4).  The  authors  show 
that  it  is  possible  for  information  to  be  conveyed  from  one  person  to 
another  by  whispering  with  closed  lips — a  possibility  of  which  the  experi- 
menters in  1889  were  not  aware.  Messrs.  Lehmann  and  Hansen  made  a 
series  of  experiments  in  the  transference  of  numbers  under  these  con- 
ditions, the  one  acting  as  "  agent,"  the  other  as  "  percipient."  As  a  sub- 
stitute for  the  hyperaesthesia  commonly  found  in  hypnotised  subjects,  the 
Danish  experimenters  placed  their  heads  in  the  foci  of  two  concave 
spherical  mirrors,  the  distance  between  the  foci  being  two  meters. 
Under  these  conditions  they  attained  considerable  success.  They  argued, 
further,  that  their  failures  showed  such  remarkable  correspondence  with 
the  failures  in  the  Sidgwick  experiments  as  to  suggest  a  common  cause 
for  the  two  sets  of  results.  Professor  Sidgwick  (Proceedings,  vol.  xii, 
pp.  298-315)  has  examined  very  closely  the  arguments  of  the  Danish  in- 
vestigators. The  question  of  unconscious  whispering,  he  points  out,  had 
been  expressly  considered,  and  the  reasons  for  believing  that  it  had  not 
operated  given  in  full.  The  attempt  of  the  Danish  investigators  to  show 
a  correspondence  between  the  results  obtained  by  them  and  those 
obtained  by  the  S.P.R.  investigators  breaks  down.  As  a  matter  of  fact 
the  correspondences  are  not  more  numerous  than  those  obtained  by  pure 
chance.  Professor  Lehmann  himself  has  since  admitted  the  force  of 
Sidgwick's  counter-argument,  and  agrees  that  his  theory  is  not  yet  estab- 
lished (see  his  letter  to  Professor  W.  James,  quoted  in  the  Journal, 
S.P.R.,  1899,  p.  115).  In  any  case  it  must  be  admitted  that  it  would  be 
extremely  difficult  to  explain  by  a  combination  of  unconscious  whispering 
and  hypersesthesia  of  hearing  the  results  quoted  below,  in  which  agent 
and  percipient  were  in  different  rcoms,  with  door  or  ceiling  intervening. 
No  one,  so  far  as  I  am  aware,  has  seriously  attempted  to  controvert  this 
later  evidence. 


THE  EXPERIMENTAL  BASIS  53 

times.  Another  percipient,  Miss  B.,  shewed  still 
more  remarkable  faculty.  In  252  trials  Miss  B. 
guessed  the  number  correctly  twenty-seven  times, 
a  result,  of  course,  far  beyond  the  possibilities  of 
chance.  In  these  trials  Mr.  Smith  was  sometimes 
in  a  room  below  the  percipient,  sometimes  in  a  room 
above  her,  sometimes  in  the  passage  outside  with 
Miss  Johnson  sitting  between  him  and  the  closed 
door,  the  distance  between  him  and  Miss  B.  varying 
from  10  to  17  feet.  When  under  the  same  conditions 
P.  or  T.  joined  Mr.  Smith  as  agent  a  much  higher 
proportion  of  successful  guesses  resulted,  viz.,  nine 
out  of  53  trials.  With  P.  and  T.  alone  acting  as 
agents  Miss  B.  guessed  rightly  three  times  in  28 
trials. 

It  seems  scarcely  possible  to  attribute  these  results 
to  hearing,  with  whatever  degree  of  hyperassthesia 
we  may  credit  Miss  B. ;  but  it  should  be  mentioned 
that  a  further  series  of  400  trials,  in  which  Miss  B. 
was  separated  from  the  agent  by  two  closed  doors 
instead  of  one,  or  was  placed  in  a  different  building, 
yielded  practically  no  success.  In  an  experiment 
depending  upon  purely  physical  conditions  we  should, 
no  doubt,  be  justified  after  such  a  failure  in  inferring 
that  the  results  were  directly  affected  by  the  distance 
or  the  intervening  obstacles,  and  were  therefore  due 
to  some  mechanical  cause  which  had  escaped  the 
attention  of  the  observer.  But  in  this  investigation 
we  have,  of  course,  to  deal  with  very  delicate 
living  machinery,  and  it  seems  not  improbable  that 
the  obstacle  in  these  later  trials  was  not  the  second 
closed  door,  but  Miss  B.'s  weariness,  or  the  more 
tedious  nature  of  the  experiments  themselves  owing 
to  the  difficulty  of  communication  between  the 
experimenters,  or  Miss  B.'s  pre-conceived  belief  that 
under  such  stringent  conditions  she  must  fail.  A 
self-suggestion  of  the  kind,  as  is  well  known,  may  be 
all  powerful  with  hypnotised  persons.*  For  since 

*  There  are  many  indications  that  the  fatigue  and  ennui  of  the  per- 
cipient are  liable  to  exercise  a  prejudicial  effect  upon  the  results.    Thus, 


54  THE  NEW  VIEW  OF  GHOSTS 

there  are  numerous  later  experiments  in  which  ideas 
have  apparently  been  conveyed  telepathically  a  much 
greater  distance,  a  distance  in  some  cases  measured 
by  hundreds  of  miles,  it  seems  incredible  that  the 
slight  alteration  in  the  physical  conditions  can  really 
have  had  anything  to  do  with  the  success.  But  the 
circumstance  will  serve  to  illustrate  the  difficulties 
attending  experimental  investigation  in  these  obscure 
psychological  by-paths. 

With  a  view  to  studying  more  closely  the  nature 
and  development  of  the  impressions  received  by  the 
percipients,  Mrs.  Sidgwick  and  Miss  Alice  Johnson 
devised  a  further  series  of  experiments  with  the 
same  percipients  in  the  transference  of  mental 
pictures.  The  subject  of  the  experiment  was  chosen 
by  one  of  the  experimenters  and  communicated  in 
writing  to  Mr.  Smith ;  the  other  experimenter,  who 
was  as  a  rule  left  in  ignorance  of  the  subject  chosen, 
would  sit  near  the  percipient  and  question  him.  All 
remarks  made,  whether  by  Mr.  Smith  or  the  experi- 
menter, were  carefully  recorded.  In  one  case  only, 
the  subject  being  an  eagle  pursuing  a  sparrow,  was 
complete  success  obtained  when  Mr.  Smith  was  out 
of  the  room,  but  the  intervention  of  a  screen  between 
agent  and  percipient  does  not  seem  materially  to  have 
affected  the  results.  In  any  case,  as  will  be  seen,  it 
would  have  been  extremely  difficult  for  the  agent  to 
have  conveyed  the  idea  to  the  percipient,  especially 
as  the  percipient's  impressions  were  all  of  a  visual 
nature.  The  percipient  was  always  hypnotised  and 
was  given  a  blank  card  on  which  he  was  told  to  see  a 
picture ;  the  blank  card  apparently  acted  the  part  of 
a  crystal  in  assisting  to  externalise  the  impression. 

as  Mrs.  Sidgwick  points  out,  the  later  trials  with  P.  and  T.  in  1899  with 
Mr.  Smith  in  the  same  room  and  with  no  variation  of  the  conditions  were 
very  unsuccessful  (Proceedings,  S.P.R.,  vol.  viii,  p.  567).  The  later  ex- 
periments with  Madame  B.,  referred  to  below,  shewed  a  much  smaller 
proportion  of  successes,  though  again  there  was  no  material  alteration  ia 
the  conditions.  But  it  is  not  unlikely  that  fatigue  and  ennui  on  the  part 
of  the  experimenter,  especially  when,  as  in  the  last  named  case,  the  ex- 
perimenter was  also  the  agent,  may  have  had  something  to  do  wiih  the- 
result. 


THE  EXPERIMENTAL  BASIS  55 

The  first  experiments  were  made  with  Miss  B.,  and 
one  of  the  earliest  trials  is  interesting  as  shewing  the 
emergence  of  a  belated  impression.  At  the  outset  of 
the  experiment  Mr.  Smith  sat  behind  a  screen. 

No.  4.  Subject,  a  Christy  Minstrel  with  a  "banjo  (chosen 
by  Mrs.  Sidgwick  who  took  the  notes).  Miss  B.  said  :  "There's 
something  long,  something  round  in  that  one — a  little  cage 
of  some  sort — something  that  looks  like  a  cage ;  yet  there's 
something  like  a  handle.  A  can !  oh,  it's  a  can !  It's  quite 
clear  now."  We  then  gave  her  a  fresh  card,  and  Mr.  Smith 
moved  round  from  behind  the  screen  and  sat  close  to  her,  still 
without  speaking. 

No.  5.  The  same  subject  (continued).  Miss  B  said :  "  Some- 
thing here  dark — a  hand."  Mrs.  Sidgwick :  "  Is  it  a  woman's 
hand  or  a  man's?"  Miss  B. :  "A  black  hand."  This  seemed 
to  be  a  partial  success. 

Mr.  Smith  then  woke  Miss  B.  up  to  ask  her  when 
she  had  to  go,  but  finding  that  there  was  a  little  time 
to  spare,  rehypnotised  her,  and  tried  another  subject. 

No.  6.  A  sailing  boat  on  the  sea.  Mr.  Smith  sat  behind 
the  screen.  Presently  Miss  B.  said :  "  A  man — black. — He's 
got  something  in  his  hand — an  instrument — sort  of  guitar 
thing."  As  we  had  not  spoken  about  the  Christy  Minstrel  and 
banjo,  this  tardy  emergence  of  the  idea  when  Mr.  Smith  was 
thinking  of  something  else,  and  after  awaking  and  rehypnotisa- 
tion,  was  interesting. 

An  experiment  with  another  subject,  Whybrew, 
shows  the  gradual  emergence  of  the  picture,  as  in 
some  crystal  visions,  from  a  confused  shadow. 

No.  77.  Subject,  A  man  riding.  Mr.  Smith  downstairs  with 
Miss  Johnson  ;  Whybrew,  upstairs  with  Mrs.  Sidgwick,  said, 
after  some  remarks  on  the  former  pictures  :  "  There's  another 
one — I  think  it's  like  the  other  two — a  puzzle  [to  see]  if  I  can 
find  the  picture.  I  hope  I'll  be  able  to  see  it  properly.  A  kind 
of  square — square  shadow— blowed  if  I  can  understand  what 
it's  meant  for — I  don't  know  what  to  make  out  of  that.  I  don't 
know  if  that's  meant  to  be  the  lower  part  of  a  pair  of  legs.  Do 
you  see  a  picture?"  Mrs.  Sidgwick:  "I  see  something." 
Whybrew  :  "I  see  them  two  spots,  but  I  don't  know  what  to 
make  of  them.  If  they're  legs,  the  body  ought  to  come. — Don't 
seem  to  come  any  brighter,  but  there's  those  two  things  there, 
that  look  like  a  pair  of  legs."  Here  Mr.  Smith  was  asked  to 
come  upstairs  and  talk  to  him.  He  told  him  the  picture  was 
coming  up  closer  and  that  he  had  turned  the  gas  on  to  make  it 


56  THE  NEW  VIEW  OF  GHOSTS 

brighter.  Whybrew  :  "There's  them  pair  of  legs  there."  Mr. 
Smith  :  "Yes"  (doubtfully).  Whybrew :  "Why,  there's  another. 
I  never  see  that  other  pair  before.  Why,  it's  a  horse.  I 
expect  it's  like  them  penny  pictures  that  you  fold  over.  That 
horse— that's  plain  enough;  but  what's  that  other  thing?" 
Mr.  Smith:  "Yes,  I  told  you  there  was  something  else." 
Whybrew:  "Why  I  see  what  it  is  now — it's  supposed  to  be  a 
man  there,  I  expect."  Mr.  Smith:  "Yes."  Whybrew:  "Rid- 
ing him.  But  that  ain't  so  good  as  the  boy  and  the  ball." 
Mrs.  Sidgwick:  "How  is  the  man  dressed?"  Whybrew: 
"Ordinary." 

The  next  three  experiments  were  with  P.  The 
gradual  development  or  building  up  of  the  picture  is 
very  clearly  shown  in  No.  17.  In  No.  18  it  will  be 
seen  that  P.  gets  the  outward  form,  but  not  the  idea 
which  it  was  sought  to  convey. 

No.  17.  Subject,  A  sandwich  man  with  advertisement  of 
a  play.  P.  said :  "  Something  like  letter  A — stroke  there,  then 
there."  Mrs.  Sidgwick :  "Well,  perhaps  it  will  become 
clearer."  P. :  "  Something  like  a  head  on  the  top  of  it ;  a  V 
upside  down — two  legs  and  then  a  head. — A  man  with  two 
boards — looks  like  a  man  that  goes  about  the  streets  with  two 
boards.  I  can  see  a  head  at  the  top  and  the  body  and  legs 
between  the  boards.  I  couldn't  see  what  was  written  on  the 
boards,  because  the  edges  were  turned  towards  me."  Mr. 
Smith  told  us  afterwards  that  he  had  pictured  to  himself  the 
man  and  one  board  facing  him,  thus  not  corresponding  to  the 
impression  which  P.  had. 

No.  18.  Subject,  A  choir  boy.  P.  said :  "  Edge  of  card's 
going  a  dark  colour.  Somebody  dressed  up  in  white,  eh  ?  Can 
see  something  all  white  ;  edge  all  black,  and  like  a  figure  in  the 
middle.  There's  his  hands  up  "  (making  a  gesture  to  show  the 
attitude)  "  like  a  ghost  or  something — you  couldn't  mistake  it 
for  anything  but  a  ghost.  It's  not  getting  any  better,  it's  fad- 
ing— no  it's  still  there.  It  might  frighten  any  one."  He  also 
made  remarks  about  the  difficulty  of  seeing  a  white  figure  on  a 
white  card  (the  blank  card  he  was  looking  at  was  white),  which 
Mr.  Smith  afterwards  said  corresponded  with  his  own  ideas. 

The  last  case,  also  with  P.,  shows  the  unexpected 
nature  of  the  impression. 

No.  100.  Subject,  A  spider  in  the  middle  of  its  web.  Mr. 
Smith  and  Miss  Johnson  downstairs  at  first;  P.  with  Mrs. 
Sidgwick  upstairs.  Mr.  Smith  drew  the  subject.  P.  had  no 
impression.  Mr.  Smith  came  upstairs  and  sat  behind  the 
screen  and  talked  to  him,  avoiding  hints.  After  some  time  P. 
said:  "Now  I  can  see  something — funny  shape— don't  know 


THE  EXPERIMENTAL  BASIS  57 

what  it  is  either — not  quite  round — octagonal  in  some  places — • 
lines  across  it — more  sides  than  eight — some  broken.  If  I  was 
to  compare  it  with  anything,  it  would  be  a  spider's  web  ;  but  it 
can't  be  that.  There  would  never  be  a  picture  of  a  spider's 
web." 

In  all  108  experiments  of  this  kind  were  made  with 
five  different  percipients ;  of  these  33  were  wholly  or 
partly  successful.* 

Some  later  experiments  made  by  some  Dutch  in- 
vestigators are  worth  quoting  in  this  connection,  as 
again  illustrating  the  purely  visual  nature,  in  some 
cases,  of  the  percipient's  impressions,  and  the 
difficulty  of  interpretation  owing  to  the  absence  of 
of  any  scale. 

From  the  Dreimonatlicher  Bericht  des  Psycho- 
physischen  Laboratoriums  zu  Amsterdam.  Jahrgang 
I.  No.  3.  1907. 

Herr  F.  M.  Geels  and  Herr  F.  E.  Visser  acted  alternately  as 
agent  and  percipient ;  the  experiments  were  conducted  and 
the  results  recorded  by  Herr  Jansen. 

One  of  the  successful  experiments,  which  Herr  Jansen 
records  at  length,  was  as  follows : 

"On  the  8th  of  June  of  this  year  (1907),  a  very  successful 
evening,  on  which  not  a  single  experiment  failed,  I  gave  Herr 
Geels,  who  was  acting  as  agent,  a  card  with  the  word  ape 
written  on  it.  It  should  be  noted  that  this  was  the  first  occa- 
sion on  which  a  card  with  the  picture  or  the  name  of  an  animal 
or  of  any  object  had  been  given ;  we  had  hitherto  confined 
ourselves  exclusively  to  mathematical  figures  and  numbers, 
so  that  there  could  not  be  the  slightest  expectation  of  the 
nature  of  the  thing  to  be  guessed.  The  result  was  as  follows  : 
After  a  short  interval  of  darkness  the  percipient,  Herr  Visser, 
saw  the  figure  of  a  large  crab  on  the  opposite  wall:  he  said 
that  the  animal  was  moving  its  feet.  After  some  time  the 
picture  disappeared,  and  there  came  in  its  place  the  picture  of 
an  ant :  *  It  is  brown,'  he  said,  '  and  has  long  hairs,  just  like  an 
ant.'  (It  is  to  be  noted  that,  generally  speaking,  one  would 
picture  to  oneself  an  ant  as  without  hairs.)  Once  more  the 
picture  changed,  and  Herr  Visser  now  fancied  he  was  looking 
at  the  ant  through  a  microscope,  for  it  seemed  enormous.  At 
this  moment  time  was  up  and  the  experiment  ended.  The 
result  was  interesting,  if  only  because  when  a  mathematical 
figure  or  cypher  might  have  been  expected,  the  picture  of  an 
animal  appeared.  When  I  asked  Herr  Visser  to  draw  what  he 

*  Proceedings^  S.P.R.,  vol.  viii,  pp.  554,  seqq. 


58  THE  NEW  VIEW  OF  GHOSTS 

had  seen,  I  got  the  accompany- 
ing figure,  which  in  fact  doesn't 
bear  much  resemblance  to  an 
ant.  We  see  how  little  value 
must  be  attached  to  the  name 
which  the  percipient  gives  to 
the  picture  presented  to  his 
mental  vision.  We  were  already 
disposed  to  count  this  experi- 
ment a  success,  on  the  ground 
that  during  the  three  months 
over  which  the  experiments  had 
hitherto  extended,  neither  the 
name  nor  the  picture  of  an 
animal  had  been  set,  or  had 
occurred  to  the  percipient,  so 
that  it  seemed  very  improbable 
that  the  coincidence  could  be 
due  to  chance.  But  we  were 
confirmed  in  our  view,  when  we 
learnt  from  Herr  Geels,  the  agent,  that  embarrassed  at  the  sight 
of  the  word  'ape,'  and  not  knowing  how  to  'translate'  it,  since 
he  had  been  accustomed  to  deal  only  with  mathematical  figures, 
which  he  could  easily  represent  to  himself,  he  resolved  to 
picture  to  himself  the  big  ape  at  the  Zoological  Gardens,  as  he 
had  seen  it  standing  upright  against  the  bars  of  the  cage.  Now, 
if  we  suppose  that  the  drawing  here  reproduced  was  made  by  a 
child,*  and  if  we  remember  that  the  percipient  fancied  that  he 
saw  his  ant  through  a  microscope  and  covered  with  long  hairs, 
we  must,  I  think,  admit  that  there  was  a  strong  resemblance 
between  the  images  present  to  the  mind  of  agent  and  percipient 
respectively." 

During  the  earlier  part  of  the  experiment  the  agent  kept 
his  hands  on  the  back  of  the  chair  on  which  the  percipient  was 
seated.  Later,  he  put  his  hands  on  the  percipient's  shoulders, 
and  it  was  at  this  point  that  Herr  Visser  fancied  he  saw  the 
ant  through  a  microscope.  It  is  difficult,  as  Herr  Jansen  says, 
to  conceive  how  the  idea  of  a  large  hairy  animal  could  have 
been  conveyed  by  unconscious  muscular  movements.  Nor  is  it 
easy  to  see  how  any  information  could  have  been  gained  by  the 
ears ;  since  the  Dutch  words  for  crab  (kreeft)  and  ant  (mier) 
bear  no  resemblance  to  ape  (Aap). 

In  the  three  other  experiments  made  on  the  same  evening  the 
results  were  almost  equally  suggestive  of  imperfect  seeing  on 
the  part  of  the  percipient.  In  the  second  trial,  the  card  chosen 

*  In  the  earlier  part  of  his  paper  Herr  Jansen  had  argued  that  the 
percipient,  in  his  endeavour  to  seize  and  interpret  the  image  flashed  on 
his  mind  from  the  agent,  is  in  the  position  of  a  small  child  trying  to  draw 
or  describe  some  new  object, 


THE  EXPERIMENTAL  BASIS  59 

was  entirely  covered  with  a  dark-blue  paper,  which  in  a  dim  light 
showed  simply  as  a  dark  colour.  The  percipient  said  that  there 
didn't  seem  to  be  much  white  there — it  was  all  dark— then  he  saw 
a  large  black  circle,  and  a  much  smaller,  thinner  circle — then  a 
steamboat — then  he  saw  again  the  brown  colour — he  could  not 
make  out  any  figure — then  it  became  somewhat  lighter.  At 
this  point  the  time  expired,  and  the  experiment  terminated. 

In  the  third  trial  the  design  on  the  card  consisted  of  twelve 
circles  in  three  or  four  rows.  The  percipient — in  this  instance 
Herr  Geels  —  said,  "  It  is  all  circles  crossing  each  other 
('durcheinander,'  *  door  elkaar '),  something  like  a  melon." 

In  the  fourth  trial  the  design  was  a  line  twisted  round  on 
itself  in  all  directions,  which  gave  the  impression  of  a  picture  of  a 
very  complicated  knot.  Herr  Visser,  the  percipient,  saw  a  figure 
like  a  capital  V  twining  about  in  every  direction,  and  constantly 
changing  its  place.  In  fact,  as  it  appeared,  the  agent,  when  he 
looked  at  the  figure,  had  specially  concentrated  his  attention 
on  the  junctions  of  the  lines,  which  in  several  places  presented 
the  form  of  a  capital  V. 

It  is  noteworthy  that  in  none  of  these  four  trials  did  the 
percipient  see  anything  that  was  absolutely  irrelevant  or  incor- 
rect, except  perhaps  the  steamboat  in  experience  No.  2.  But 
this  was  probably  suggested  by  the  dark  colour  which  preceded 
it.  In  all  four  cases  the  description  given  by  the  percipient  is, 
as  Herr  Jansen  points  out,  just  such  as  might  have  been  given 
by  a  person  who  saw  the  actual  picture  under  unfavourable 
conditions. 

Experiments  in  telepathic  communication  at  a  dis* 
tance  are  extremely  tedious  and  perhaps  require  a 
higher  degree  of  the  faculty  than  is  needed  for  trials 
at  close  quarters.  A  fair  number  of  such  cases  have, 
however,  been  recorded  by  the  Society  for  Psychical 
Research,  but  there  is  no  single  series  at  all  com- 
parable in  importance  to  those  conducted  by  Mrs. 
Sidgwick  that  have  just  been  described.  Perhaps 
the  most  notable  are  the  experiments  made  by  Pro- 
fessor Pierre  Janet,  of  the  Salpetriere,  and  Dr. 
Gibert,  a  leading  physician  of  Havre,  in  1885-6.  It 
happened  that  F.  W.  H.  Myers  was  present  with  his 
brother,  Dr.  A.  T.  Myers,  at  some  of  the  trials,  and  I 
subjoin  their  accounts,  slightly  abridged,  of  what 
they  witnessed.  The  subject  was  Madame  B. 
(Leonie)  well-known  for  the  studies  of  her  in  the 
hypnotic  state  published  by  Professor  Janet,  Pro- 


60  THE  NEW  VIEW  OF  GHOSTS 

fessor   Richet,  and  others.     The   experiments  took 
place  at  Havre.     Mr.  Myers's  account  is  as  follows  : 

[Madame  B.  was  staying  at  the  Pavilion,  a  house  occupied 
by  Dr.  Gibert's  sister,  about  two-thirds  of  a  mile  from  Dr. 
Gibert's  own  house.  After  recording  two  cases  (18  and  20)  in 
which  Madame  B.  was  actually  found  sleeping  on  the  arrival 
of  the  experimenters,  but  in  which  it  seemed  possible  that  the 
effect  might  have  been  caused  by  her  catching  sight  of  the 
experimenters  on  their  way  to  the  house,  Mr.  Myers  continues.] 

"  (21)  On  the  22nd  we  all  dined  at  M.  Gibert's,  and  in  the 
evening  M.  Gibert  made  another  attempt  to  put  her  to  sleep  at 
a  distance  from  his  house  in  the  Rue  Sery — she  being  at  the 
Pavilion,  Rue  de  la  Ferme, — and  to  bring  her  to  his  house  by 
an  effort  of  will.*  At  8.55  he  retired  to  his  study;  and  MM. 
Ochprowicz,  Marillier,  Janet,  and  A.  T.  Myers  went  to  the 
Pavilion,  and  waited  outside  in  the  street,  out  of  sight  of  the 
house.  At  9.22  Dr.  Myers  observed  Madame  B.  coming  half- 
way out  of  the  garden-gate,  and  again  retreating.  Those  who 
saw  her  more  closely  observed  that  she  was  plainly  in  the 
somnambulic  state,  and  was  wandering  about  and  muttering. 
At  9.25  she  came  out  (with  eyes  persistently  closed,  so  far  as 
could  be  seen),  walked  quickly  past  MM.  Janet  and  Marillier, 
without  noticing  them,  and  made  for  M.  Gibert's  house,  though 
not  by  the  usual  or  shortest  route.  (It  appeared  afterwards 
that  the  bonne  had  seen  her  go  into  the  salon  at  8.45,  and 
issue  thence  asleep  at  9.15  :  had  not  looked  in  between  those 
:  imes.f)  She  avoided  lamp-posts,  vehicles,  etc.,  but  crossed 
and  recrossed  the  street  repeatedly.  No  one  went  in  front  of 
her  or  spoke  to  her.  After  eight  or  ten  minutes  she  grew  much 
more  uncertain  in  gait,  and  paused  as  though  she  would  fall. 
Dr.  Myers  noted  the  moment  in  the  Rue  Faure ;  it  was  9.35. 
At  about  9.40  she  grew  bolder,  and  at  9.45  reached  the  street 
in  front  of  M.  Gibert's  house.  There  she  met  him,  but  did  not 
notice  him,  and  walked  into  his  house,  where  she  rushed 
hurriedly  from  room  to  room  on  the  ground-floor.  M.  Gibert 
had  to  take  her  hand  before  she  recognised  him.  She  then 
grew  calm. 

"  M.  Gibert  said  that  from  8.55  to  9.20  he  thought  intently 
about  her ;  from  9.20  to  9.35  he  thought  more  feebly ;  at  9.35 
he  gave  the  experiment  up,  and  began  to  play  billiards ;  but  in 
a  few  minutes  began  to  will  her  again.  It  appeared  that  his 
visit  to  the  billiard-room  had  coincided  with  her  hesitation  and 
stumbling  in  the  street.  But  this  coincidence  may  of  course 
have  been  accidental." 

*  It  will  be  seen  from  the  synopsis  of  experiments  given  below  that  the 
afternoon,  and  not  the  evening,  was  the  time  of  day  usually  chosen, 

f  It  was  not  unusual  for  her  to  sit  in  the  salon  in  the  evening,  after  tha 
day's  occupations  were  over. 


THE  EXPERIMENTAL  BASIS 


61 


?»J 

£*i 

BgH 

Date. 

Operator 

Hour  when 
given 

Remarks. 

1  Success 
or 
Failure 

1885 

1 

Oct.    3 

Gibert 

11.30  a.m. 

She  washes  hands  and 

? 

wards  off  trance 

2 

,,        9 

do. 

11.40  a.m. 

Found  entranced  11.45. 

1 

3 

»      14 

do. 

4.15  p.m. 

Found  entranced  4.30  : 

had  been  asleep  about 

1 

1886 

1O   IIllllULCo 

i 

4 

Feb.  22 

Janet 

She  washes  hands  and 

wards  off  trance 

? 

5 

„      25 

do. 

5  p.m. 

Asleep  at  once 

1 

6 

„      26 

do. 

Mere    discomfort    ob- 

served 

0 

7 

Mar.   1 

do. 

do.               do. 

0 

8 

,,        2 

do. 

3  p.m. 

Found  asleep  at  4  :  has 

slept  about  an  hour 

1 

9 

„        4 

do. 

Will  interrupted:  trance 

coincident  but  incom- 

plete 

1 

10 

»        5 

do. 

5-5.10  p.m. 

Found    asleep    a    few 

minutes  afterwards 

1 

11 

„        6 

Gibert 

8  p.m. 

Found  asleep  8.3 

1 

12 

„      10 

do. 

Success  —  no  details 

1 

13 

,,      14 

Janet 

3  p.m. 

Success  —  no  details 

1 

14 

„      16 

Gibert 

9  p.m. 

Brings  hertohis  house  : 

she  leaves  her  house  a 

f                       i            4-/^o    nti-cn*   Q 

1" 

15 

April  18 

Janet 

iew^  minutes  aiter  y 
Found    asleep    in     10 

minutes 

1 

16 

„      19 

Gibert 

4  p.m. 

Found  asleep  4.15 

1 

17 

„      20 

do. 

8  p.m. 

Made  to  come  to  his 

house 

1 

18 

,,      21 

do. 

5.50  p.m. 

Trance  too  tardy 

? 

19 

,,      21 

do. 

11.35  p.m. 

Attempt  at  trance  dur- 

ing sleep 

? 

20 

„      22 

do. 

11  a.m. 

Asleep    11.25:     trance 

too  tardy  :    count   as 

failure 

0 

21 

„      22 

do. 

9  p.m. 

Comes  to   his   house  : 

leaves  her  house  9.15 

1 

22 

„      23 

Janet 

4.30  p.m. 

Found  asleep  5.5,  says 

23 

,,       24 

do. 

3  p.m. 

she  has  slept  since  4.  30 
Found  asleep  3.30,  says 

1 

she  has  slept  since  3.5 

,1 

24 

May    5 

do. 

Success  —  -no  details 

1 

25 

»        6 

do. 

Success  —  no  details 

1 

18 

62  THE  NEW  VIEW  OF  GHOSTS 

"(22)  On  the  23rd  M.  Janet  lunched  in  our  company,  and 
retired  to  his  own  house  at  4.30  (a  time  chosen  by  lot)  to  try 
and  put  her  to  sleep  from  there.  At  5.5  we  all  entered  the 
salon  of  the  Pavilion,  and  found  her  asleep  with  shut  eyes,  but 
sewing  vigorously  (being  in  that  stage  in  which  movements 
once  suggested  are  automatically  continued).  Passing  into  the 
talkative  state,  she  said  to  M.  Janet,  '  C'est  vous  qui  m'avez 
fait  dormir  a  quatre  heures  et  demi.'  The  impression  as  to  the 
hour  may  have  been  a  suggestion  received  from  M.  Janet's 
mind.  We  tried  to  make  her  believe  that  it  was  M.  Gibert  who 
had  sent  her  to  sleep,  but  she  maintained  that  she  had  felt  that 
it  was  M.  Janet." 

"  (23)  On  April  24th  the  whole  partv  chanced  to  meet  at  M. 
Janet's  house  at  3  p.m.,  and  he  then,  at  my  suggestion,  entered 
his  study  to  will  that  Madame  B.  should  sleep.  We  waited  in 
his  garden,  and  at  3.20  proceeded  together  to  the  Pavilion, 
which  I  entered  first  at  3.30,  and  found  Madame  B.  profoundly 
sleeping  over  her  sewing,  having  ceased  to  sew.  Becoming 
talkative,  she  said  to  M.  Janet,  *  C'est  vous  qui  m'avez  com 
mande.'  She  said  that  she  fell  asleep  at  3.5  p.m. 

The  table  on  page  61  gives  a  summary  of  all  the 
trials  made  during  the  period. 

In  25  trials  there  were,  it  will  be  seen,  18  complete 
and  four  doubtful  or  partial  coincidences.  It  should 
be  added  that  during  the  whole  period  of  the  experi- 
ments Madame  B.  only  once  fell  asleep  in  the  day- 
time, and  twice  became  spontaneously  entranced, — 
once  on  gazing  intently  at  a  picture  by  Dr.  Gibert — 
so  that  there  is  no  ground  for  attributing  these 
remarkable  results  to  chance.  A  further  series  of 
35  trials  made  by  Professor  Janet  with  the  same 
subject  in  the  autumn  of  1886  shewed  a  consider- 
able though  somewhat  smaller  proportion  of 
coincidences.* 

The  account  given  by  F.  W.  H.  Myers  and  his 
brother  of  what  they  witnessed  at  Havre  less  than  a 
generation  ago  might  seem  to  claim  a  place  in  the 
annals  of  witchcraft,  or  amongst  ancient  tales  of 
magic ;  and  it  may  seem,  at  first  sight,  unwarrantable 
to  correlate  the  profound  physiological  effects  pro- 
duced in  Madame  B.'s  organism  with  such  apparently 

*  See  the  article  by  F.  W.  H.  Myers  in  Proceedings,  S.P.R.,  vol.  iv, 
pp.i32-7 ;  Revue  Philosophique,  August,  1886;  and  Revue  de  ?  Hypnotism*, 
February,  1888, 


THE  EXPERIMENTAL  BASIS  63 

slight  sensational  disturbances  as  the  telepathic 
production  of  visual  images.  But  we  should  not  be 
justified  in  measuring  the  intensity  of  the  original 
stimulus  by  the  intensity  of  the  effect  produced.  A 
spark  may  fire  a  powder  magazine;  and  Madame 
B.'s  organism,  like  the  powder  magazine,  was  in  a 
position  of  unstable  equilibrium.  M.  Janet's  early 
studies  on  psychological  automatism  are  largely 
based  on  the  phenomena  found  in  her  case. 
Experiments  of  this  kind  in  mental  suggestion  at 
a  distance  are  not  likely  to  succeed  with  any  but 
exceptional  organisms;  and,  in  fact,  though  we 
have  other  modern  records  of  the  kind,  chiefly  from 
French  sources,  the  phenomenon  is  unquestionably 
rare.* 

Of  recent  experiments  in  telepathy  at  a  distance 
the  most  valuable  are  those  made  by  Miss  Clarissa 
Miles  and  Miss  Hermione  Ramsden.  They  are  too 
long  to  quote  in  full,  but  some  selections  from  the 
latest  series  may  be  given  as  illustrations  of  the 
method.! 

At  the  time  of  the  first  two  experiments  Miss 
Ramsden,  the  percipient,  was  at  Kingussie,  and 
Miss  Miles  was  staying  with  Lady  Guendolen 
Ramsden  at  Namur,  a  place  which  Miss  Ramsden 
had  never  visited.  It  was  arranged  that  each  day 
Miss  Miles  and  Miss  Ramsden  should  exchange  post- 
cards, stating  exactly  the  nature  of  the  impression 
sought  to  be  conveyed,  and  the  nature  of  the  impres- 
sion received.  The  postmark  on  the  card  is,  of 
course,  an  absolute  guarantee  of  the  authenticity  of 
the  record.  The  experiments  began  on  July  21st, 
1907. 

*  Some  of  the  English  mesmerists  in  the  decade,  1840-50,  notably 
the  Rev.  C.  H.  Townsend  and  Mr.  Stafford  Thompson,  claimed  to  have 
succeeded  in  inducing  sleep  at  a  distance,  or  in  summoning  the  patient 
to  them  by  an  exercise  of  will, 

f  Journal,  S.P.R.,  June,  1908.  An  account  of  some  previous  experi- 
ments made  by  these  two  ladies  will  be  found  in  Proceedings,  S.P.R., 
vol.  xxi,  pp.  60  seqq. 


64 


THE  NEW  VIEW  OF  GHOSTS 


CO 

CO 

I 
I 
3 

S 


a 
5 

53 

CD 


THE  EXPERIMENTAL  BASIS  65 

Miss  Miles  writes  : — 

EXPERIMENT  I. 

11  Miss  Ramsden  on  July  21st  sent  a  sketch  of  a  well  which 
she  had  been  thinking  of  on  the  18th  and  19th  several  times  in 
connection  with  me.  It  will  be  seen  that  this  has  some 
resemblance  to  a  photograph  which  I  took  from  our  hotel 
window,  and  part  of  which  is  here  reproduced,  showing  ,a 
tower,  which  was  the  most  conspicuous  object  from  the  hotel 
garden  :  when  there,  we  could  not  look  up  in  any  direction 
without  seeing  the  tower  outlined  against  the  sky ;  but  the 
weathercock  and  round  ball  beneath  shown  in  the  photograph 
would  not  be  visible  to  us,  for  the  garden  being  situated  exactly 
at  the  foot  of  the  tower,  we  were  too  much  underneath  it. 

EXPERIMENT  II. 

"  The  following  is  my  postcard,  written  on  the  first  day  that 
I  attempted  to  transfer  an  idea  to  Miss  Ramsden  : 
(a)  Hotel  d'Harscamp,  Namur, 

July  20th  [really  21st,  i.e.,  Sunday]. 
[Postmark,  Namur,  22.  VII.  07.     10.17.] 
We  went  to  Huy  by  train  and  spent  the  afternoon  there. 
I  wanted  you  to  see  the  fine  view  of  citadel.    The  hill 
beyond  covered  with  trees,  boats  in  foreground,  and  a  fine 
bridge  spanning  the  Meuse.  C.  M. 

"  (b)  Miss  Ramsden's  next  postcard,  written  from  Ardverikie, 
Kingussie,  has  the  postmark  *  Kingussie,  12.45  p.m.  Jy.  23.  07,' 
and  has  nothing  on  it  except  the  sketch  here  reproduced. 
Miss  Ramsden  adds  later  : 

This  was  seen  as  a  hypnagogic  illusion  just  before  going 
to  sleep  [i.e.,  on  Sunday].  I  drew  this  on  Monday  [22nd] 
after  the  post  had  gone  (8  a.m.).  That  is  why  it  was 
not  posted  until  the  23rd.  1  saw  it  in  colour  ;  the  distance 
was  a  lovely  blue.  H.  R. 

"  (d)  Lady  Guendolen   Ramsden,  writing  to  her  daughter 
later  of  this  occasion,  sends  the  following  sketch  :  [Frontis*] 
Lady  Guendolen  adds  : 

[On]  the  day  we  went  to  Huy,  Clarisse  sat  under  a  tree 
on  the  bank  of  a  garden  overlooking  the  Meuse.  She  said, 
'  I'll  draw  the  bridge;  M.  may  get  an  impression  of  the 
arches.'  So  you  did — only  yours  were  more  like  a  viaduct. 
.  .  .  This  sketch  is  from  memory,  showing  where  Clarisse 
sat  to  draw.  There  was  a  large  tree  on  whose  roots  she 
sat ;  lots  of  boats  everywhere.  .  .  ." 

In  the  first  experiment  no  deliberate  attempt  had 
been  made  by  Miss  Miles  to  transfer  any  idea  to 
Miss  Ramsden.  But  the  tower  had  formed  a 


66  THE  NEW  VIEW  OF  GHOSTS 

prominent  feature  in  the  agent's  consciousness  for 
some  days  previously — she  had  gone  to  Namur  on 
the  13th  July — and  if  a  sheet  of  paper  is  held  so  as 
to  hide  the  spire  and  bulb  of  the  tower,  the  resem- 
blance between  the  photograph  and  Miss  Ramsden's 
drawing  will  be  seen  to  be  so  close  that  it  is 
difficult  to  suppose  it  due  to  chance. 

There  were  in  all  twenty  experiments  in  the 
series,  of  which  only  three  were  complete  failures. 
But  in  several  other  cases  the  percipient's  impres- 
sion appeared  to  correspond,  not  with  the  idea  noted 
beforehand  by  the  agent  as  present  to  her  mind, 
but  with  some  less  prominent  item  in  her  recent 
experience.  To  form  a  fair  judgment  of  the  amount 
of  correspondence  involved,  it  is  essential  to  study 
the  full  record.  I  will  quote  one  more  instance, 
which  is  interesting  on  other  grounds,  apart  from 
its  furnishing  an  admirable  illustration  of  telepathy 
at  a  distance.  In  this  experiment,  the  sixteenth  in 
the  series,  Miss  Ramsden  was  still  at  Kingussie,  but 
Miss  Miles  was  staying  at  Hoe  Benham,  a  small 
village  exactly  half-way  between  London  and  Bristol, 
for  the  purpose  of  having  lessons  in  painting.  Miss 
Miles  was  in  the  habit  of  walking  each  morning 
from  her  lodging  to  the  cottage  and  studio  occupied 
by  two  artists,  Mr.  Pittman  and  Mr.  Waud.  This 
is  Mr.  Pittman's  description  of  the  events  of 
November  2nd,  1907:— 

"  Hoe  Benham,  Newbury. 

"  On  November  2nd,  1907,  I  was  painting  in  the  Studio  with 
my  friend  Reginald  Waud ;  the  model  was  our  servant  dressed 
as  a  widow,  and  we  were  waiting  for  Miss  Miles  to  join  us. 
At  10  o'clock  I  knew  the  milkman  had  come  by  the  dogs 
barking  in  the  cottage  at  the  top  of  the  garden.  So  I  said,  *  I 
will  take  the  milk  in,'  and  went  up  to  the  cottage.  After 
putting  the  jug  in  the  pantry  and  shutting  the  cottage  door,  I 
looked  up  the  road  and  saw  Miss  Miles  coming  down  with  her 
easel  and  paint-box.  Following  quite  close  behind  her  was  a 
large  white  pig,  with  a  long  snout.  I  went  down  to  the  Studio 
and  said  to  Waud,  *  What  do  you  think  Miss  Miles  is  bringing 
down  with  her  this  morning,  instead  of  her  Chow  ?  A  large 
pig.'  We  roared  with  laughter,  and  he  said,  *  Call  out  and  tell 
her  not  to  bring  her  friend  in,  and  to  be  sure  to  shut  the  gate, 


THE  EXPERIMENTAL  BASIS  67 

as  we  take  a  great  pride  in  our  garden.'  The  moment  Miss 
Miles  appeared  I  opened  the  window  and  shouted  out,  *  What 
have  you  done  with  your  companion  ?'  She  was  very  surprised 
and  said,  *  My  companion !  what  do  you  mean  ?'  Then  I  told 
her  what  I  had  seen  following  her.  She  immediately  said,  *  If 
a  pig  were  trotting  behind  me,  I  must  have  heard  it.  Besides, 
there  is  a  very  easy  way  of  finding  out,  for  I  passed  the 
milkman  in  the  lane  and  he  must  have  seen  it,  but  I  shall  go 
and  look  for  myself.'  When  she  came  back  she  said,  'There 
is  no  trace  of  a  pig  anywhere.'  We  made  enquiries  all  over 
the  village ;  no  one  had  seen  a  stray  pig.  There  is  only  one 
white  one  in  the  place,  and  this  one,  its  owner  assured  us, 
could  not  possibly  have  got  loose  without  his  knowing  it.  At 
the  present  time  there  is  a  notice  out  forbidding  owners  to 
allow  pigs  to  stray,  under  penalty  of  a  fine,  as  there  have  been 
cases  of  swine  fever.  We  enquired  of  the  milkman  next 
morning.  He  remembered  passing  Miss  Miles,  as  he  usually 
met  her  about  the  same  time.  He  most  emphatically  said 
there  was  no  pig  to  be  seen  anywhere  on  the  road. 

(Signed)       OSMUND  PITTMAN. 

REGINALD  WAUD. 

CLARISSA  MILES. 

LOUISA  THORNE." 

Miss  Miles  chose  this  pig  for  the  subject  of 
experiment  with  Miss  Ramsden,  and  wrote  on  her 
postcard : 

(a)  "  Laburnum  Villa,  Saturday,  November  2nd. 

[Postmark:  Newbury,  6.30  p.m.,  No.  3,  07.] 
"I  wished  you  to  see  a  stuffed  pheasant  or  you  may  have  seen 
the  flying  phantom  pig.  C.  M." 

(b)  "  November  2nd,  1907. 
[Postmark:  Kingussie,  10.30  a.m.,  No.  3,  07.] 

*  *  *  * 

"You  were  out  of  doors  rather  late,  a  cold  raw  evening  near  a 
railway  station ;  there  was  a  pig  with  a  long  snout,  and  some 
village  children ;  it  was  getting  dark.  H.  R." 

The  milkman  and  Mrs.Thorne,  who  questioned  the 
children  playing  on  the  road,  both  add  their  testimony 
to  the  non-reality  of  the  pig.  Apart  from  the  success- 
ful communication  to  Miss  Miles's  friend  in  Kingussie, 
the  phantom  pig  is  interesting  as  being  a  member  of 
a  whole  menagerie  of  ghostly  animals  seen,  mostly, 
however,  in  the  twilight,  in  the  same  locality.  The 
discussion  of  this  subject  must,  however,  be  deferred 
for  the  present. 


68  THE  NEW  VIEW  OF  GHOSTS 

CHAPTER  V 

COINCIDENT    DREAMS 

IN  the  last  chapter  we  have  seen  reason  to  think, 
as  the  result  of  carefully  conducted  experiments, 
that  telepathy,  the  affection  of  one  mind  by  another 
at  a  distance,  is  a  fact.  If  the  faculty  really  exists  we 
should,  of  course,  expect  to  find  traces  of  it  in  ordin- 
ary life,  and  in  effect  in  dreams  we  observe  numerous 
coincidences  that  at  first  sight  may  seem  abundantly 
to  illustrate  the  hypothetical  faculty.  So  numerous 
and  so  striking  are  these  coincidences  that  in  all  ages 
men  have  credited  the  dreamer  with  the  power  of 
seeing  the  distant  and  even  of  foreseeing  the  future, 
albeit  experience  has  forced  them  to  the  conclusion 
that  this  seeing  generally  takes  place  as  in  a  glass 
darkly.  Hence  the  need  of  skilled  assistance  in  the 
interpretation  of  dreams,  and  the  growth  of  profes- 
sional diviners  and  soothsayers.  The  dreams  which 
needed  interpretation  were  mostly  of  a  symbolic  kind, 
and  we  have  little  use  in  scientific  enquiry  fot 
dreams  of  this  sort,  since,  in  addition  to  the  weak- 
nesses inherent  in  dream  evidence  generally,  they 
add  one  more  element  of  their  own,  the  caprice  of 
the  interpreter.  But  there  are  and  probably  always 
have  been  dreams,  needing  no  interpreter,  which 
bear  an  unmistakable  resemblance  to  facts  unknown 
to  the  dreamer.  Such  is  the  appearance  in  dream  of 
a  friend  to  take  farewell  at  the  moment  of  his  death. 
Now  whilst  there  is  a  very  strong  probability  that  a 
hallucination  which  coincides  with  a  death  is  in  some 
way  connected  with  the  death,  because  hallucinations 
themselves  are  comparatively  rare  events,  would  it 
scarcely  be  fair  to  say  the  same  of  a  drea*i  of  death ; 
and  we  should  still  less  be  justified  in  laying  stress 
upon  a  dream  which  happened  to  coincide  with  some 


COINCIDENT  DREAMS  69 

more  common  or  more  readily  foreseen  event. 
Dreams  are  as  the  sand  on  the  seashore  for  multitude, 
and  amongst  so  many  random  shots  some  must  hit 
the  mark.  Moreover,  accounts  of  dreams  can  rarely 
be  altogether  trustworthy.  Dream  impressions,  to 
begin  with,  are  usually  faint  and  vague.  But  if  they 
are  commonly  less  vivid  than  waking  impressions, 
they  are  also  less  coherent ;  they  are  apt  to  acquire 
much  of  their  form  as  well  as  their  colour  in  the 
process  of  narration.  At  best,  too,  a  dream,  however 
vivid,  is  less  likely  to  be  accurately  remembered  than 
a  waking  experience,  because  it  has  no  place  in  space 
or  in  time ;  it  does  not  form  part  of  a  coherent  fabric 
or  a  continuous  sequence  of  memories.  On  all 
accounts,  then,  dream  stories  can  add  little  support  to 
the  hypothesis  of  telepathy,  though  they  may  serve 
to  illustrate  it.  A  few  cases  may,  however,  be  quoted 
which  either  from  the  exactness  of  the  coincidence, 
the  peculiar  nature  of  the  impression,  or  some  other 
circumstance,  may  seem  worthy  of  note.  In  the  first 
three  cases  it  will  be  seen  that  the  dream  coincided 
approximately  with  the  death  of  the  person  repre- 
sented, and  that  the  impression  made  on  the  mind  of 
the  dreamer  was  sufficiently  strong  to  induce  him  to 
make  a  written  record  of  the  fact  or  to  tell  a  friend. 
Dreams  of  death  and  accident  are  in  fact  sufficiently 
numerous  and  well  attested  to  add  some  support  to 
the  evidence  for  telepathy  derived  from  other 
sources,  though,  of  course,  in  any  particular  case  we 
must  recognize  that  the  coincidence  may  be  purely 
accidental. 

No.  10. — The  late  Dr.  Hodgson  received  on  19th 
July,  1897,  the  following  letter,  bearing  the  postmark, 
New  York,  July  17th,  11 -30  a.m.,  from  a  friend,  Dr. 
Holbrook : — 

"DEAR  HODGSON, — Five  minutes  ago  Mr.  J.  F.  Morse,  who 
has  all  his  life  had  dreams  which  were  more  or  less  verified 
later,  came  to  my  room  and  said  :  *  I  believe  my  wife  died  last 
night,  for  I  had  a  dream  of  a  most  remarkable  nature  which 
indicates  it.  I  shall  be  able  to  let  you  know  soon,  for  I  shall 
get  word  at  my  office  when  I  reach  there.  I  will  then  send  you 


70  THE  NEW  VIEW  OF  GHOSTS 

word/  His  wife  is  in  a  country  place  in  Delaware  Co.,  Pa. 
She  is  ill,  but  he  had  no  idea  she  would  not  live  for  months,  as 
the  enclosed  letter  of  July  15  will  show,  but  she  was  ill  and 
would  be  likely  to  decline  slowly  and  gradually. 

"  I  will  get  this  off  or  in  the  mail  before  I  hear  any  more. 

"  Mr.  Morse  in  his  appearance  looks  like  one  who  had  just  lost 
a  dear  friend  and  is  in  a  state  of  great  mental  depression,  with 
tears  in  his  eyes.  M.  L.  HOLBROOK." 

On  the  evening  of  the  same  day  a  telegram  was 
received  announcing  that  Mrs.  Morse  had  died 
unexpectedly  at  9.15  on  the  evening  of  Friday, 
July  16th. 

No.  11. — The  following  incident  is  related  by  the 
Marchioness  of  Dufferin  and  Ava  in  My  Canadian 
Journal,  written  while  Lord  Dufferin  was  Governor- 
General  of  Canada.  (Pp.  82-3  and  88.)  The 
Governor-General's  party  had  left  Ottawa  on  June 
10th,  1873,  and  were  touring  about  at  the  mouth  of 
the  St.  Lawrence.  On  the  30th  they  were  at  Mingan. 
Lord  and  Lady  Dufferin,  and  a  small  party,  had 
started  off  early,  up  the  river,  salmon  fishing.  After 
describing  the  morning's  work,  Lady  Dufferin  says : 

"We  were  just  going  to  begin  fishing  again,  when  an  Indian 
canoe  arrived  bringing  us  very  sad  news.  One  of  our  footmen 
had  gone  out  fishing,  and  was  drowned.  We  returned  immedi- 
ately. We  saw  the  place  where  the  accident  happened ;  on  the 
rocks  lay  a  piece  of  bread  he  had  been  eating.  He  had  got  up 
and  stood  at  the  edge  of  the  water  with  his  rod.  The  steward 
said,  *  Can  you  swim  ? '  '  No.'  *  Then  take  care,  for  it  is  slip- 
pery and  the  water  is  very  deep.1  *  Never  fear/  he  said,  and 
instantly  slipped.  He  put  up  his  hands  to  take  off  a.  mosquito- 
veil  he  had  on,  and  disappeared.  The  steward  dived  after 
him,  but  he  never  rose  at  all.  A  boat  was  got,  and  presently 
the  men  saw  the  thick  end  of  a  fishing-rod  sticking  up.  They 
took  hold  of  it,  and  lifted  the  poor  dead  body  up  with  it.  He 
appeared  to  be  upright  in  the  water,  the  rod  fast  in  his  hand." 

Under  date  of  July  llth — when  near  Gaspe — 
Lady  Dufferin  writes: — 

"You  remember  that  I  told  you  that  a  poor  manservant  of  ours 
was  drowned  at  the  Mingan.  As  we  knew  nothing  about  his 
people,  we  were  unable  to  communicate  the  news  of  his  death 
to  them,  so  D.  [Lord  Dufferin]  ordered  any  letters  that  might 
arrive  for  him  to  be  brought  to  himself.  The  first  of  these — 
which  we  have  just  received — was  from  a  servant  girl  he  was 
attached  to  at  Ottawa,  and  was  dated  exactly  seven  days  after 


COINCIDENT  DREAMS  71 

the  date  of  the  accident.  In  it  she  said  :  *  I  have  been  in  my 
new  place  a  week,  and  I  like  it  very  much,  but  I  had  such  a 
dreadful  dream  on  the  day  of  my  arrival.  I  dreamt  that  you  and 
Nowell  were  upset  in  a  boat  together,  and  that  Nowell  was 
saved,  but  you  were  drowned.'  As  the  spot  where  the  accident 
occurred  is  in  an  uninhabited  region  on  the  coast  of  Labrador, 
more  than  500  miles  distant  from  Ottawa,  without  either  tele- 
graphs or  posts,  it  was  impossible  she  should  have  had  news  of 
her  lover's  death  when  this  letter  was  written." 

Nowell,  spoken  of  in  the  letter,  was  not  the  steward, 
but  Lord  Dufferin's  valet.  It  is  not  recorded  where 
Nowell  was  at  the  time  of  the  accident. 

No.  12. — The  next  case  is  more  than  sixty  years 
old;  but  the  evidence,  it  will  be  seen,  is  contempor- 
aneous with  the  event.  It  is  to  be  noted  that,  in  this 
case,  the  dream,  though  it  correctly  indicated  the  data 
of  the  death,  did  not  coincide  with  it.  If  we  regard 
the  dream  as  being  possibly  telepathic,  this  would 
seem  to  point  to  communication  of  the  news  from 
the  uncle,  who  wrote  the  letter,  rather  than  from  the 
dying  brother.  This  case  was  communicated  in 
August,  1895,  by  the  Rev.  E.  K.  Elliott,  Rector  of 
Worthing,  who  was  formerly  in  the  Navy,  and  who 
made  the  entry  in  his  diary  as  quoted  when  he  was 
cruising  in  the  Atlantic  out  of  reach  of  post  or 
telegraph.  The  diary  was  then  in  his  possession. 

Extract  from  diary  written  out  in  Atlantic,  January 
14th,  7847. 

"  Dreamt  last  night  I  received  a  letter  from  my  uncle,  H.  E., 
dated  January  3rd,  in  which  news  of  my  dear  brother's  death 
was  given.  It  greatly  struck  me. 

"  My  brother  had  been  ill  in  Switzerland,  but  the  last  news  I 
received  on  leaving  England  was  that  he  was  better. 

"The  *  January  3rd*  was  very  black,  as  if  intended  to  catch 
my  eye. 

"  On  my  return  to  England  I  found,  as  I  quite  expected,  a 
letter  awaiting  me  saying  my  brother  had  died  on  the  above 
date." 

Worthing.  E.  K.  ELLIOTT. 

There  are  numerous  cases  recorded  in  which 
dreams,  sometimes  of  a  very  striking  or  bizarre 
nature,  have  occurred  simultaneously  to  husband  and 


72  THE  NEW  VIEW  OF  GHOSTS 

wife  or  to  two  other  persons  occupying  the  same 
room.  In  such  a  case,  however,  we  are  forced  to 
remember  that  persons  living  in  the  same  house  and 
occupying  the  same  bedroom  probably  share  to  a 
large  extent  their  waking  experiences,  and  that  any 
common  stimulus,  such  as  an  unusual  sound,  may  be 
expected  often  to  arouse  similar  chains  of  association. 
It  is  impossible  therefore  to  find  much  evidence  for 
telepathy  in  such  dreams.  In  the  following  case, 
however,  the  dreamers  were  sleeping  on  different 
floors,  and  though  there  was  HO  doubt  a  certain 
amount  of  anxiety  the  disease  was  of  a  chronic  kind. 
It  will  be  seen  that  the  dream  was  written  down 
within  a  few  hours,  so  that  there  was  not  much  time 
for  the  details  to  become  enlarged  in  the  memory. 
The  narrator,  who  is  an  Associate  of  the  Society  for 
Psychical  Research,  is  unwilling  to  have  his  name 
published.  He  writes  on  October  7th,  1900: — 
No.  13. 

"  I  woke  abruptly  in  the  small  hours  of  this  morning  with  a 
painful  conviction  upon  me  that  my  wife,  who  was  that  night 
sleeping  in  another  part  of  the  house,  had  burst  a  varicose  vein 
in  the  calf  of  her  leg,  and  that  I  could  feel  the  swelled  place, 
three  inches  long.  I  wondered  whether  I  ought  to  get  up  and 
go  down  to  her  room  on  the  first  floor,  and  considered  whether 
she  would  be  able  to  come  up  to  me ;  but  I  was  only  partly 
awake,  though  in  acute  distress.  My  mind  had  been  suddenly 
roused,  but  my  body  was  still  under  the  lethargy  of  sleep.  I 
argued  with  myself  that  there  would  be  sure  to  be  nothing  in 
it,  that  I  should  only  disturb  her,  and  so  shortly  went  off  to 
sleep  again. 

"  On  going  to  her  room  this  morning  I  said  I  had  a  horrid 
dream,  which  had  woke  me  up,  to  the  effect  that  she  had  burst 
a  varicose  vein,  of  which  just  now  care  has  to  be  taken.  '  Why,1 
she  replied,  '  I  had  just  the  same  experience.  I  woke  up  at  2.15 
feeling  sure  the  calf  of  my  leg  was  bleeding,  and  my  hand 
seemed  to  feel  it  wet  when  I  put  it  there.  I  turned  on  the  light 
in  alarm,  noticing  the  time,  and  wondered  if  I  should  be  able 
to  get  up  to  thee,  or  whether  I  should  have  to  wake  the  house- 
keeper. Thou  wast,  in  the  dream  out  of  which  I  woke, 
examining  the  place.' 

"  Though  I  did  not  note  the  hour,  2  o'clock  is  about  the  time 
I  should  have  guessed  it  to  be  ;  and  the  impression  on  my  mind 
was  vivid  and  terrible,  knowing  how  dangerous  such  an 
accident  would  be." 


COINCIDENT  DREAMS  73 

Mrs. corroborates  as  follows : — • 

"  I  felt  twinges  of  pain  in  my  leg  off  and  on  in  my  sleep  with- 
out being  entirely  roused  till  about  2.15  a.m.  Then,  or  just 
before,  I  dreamt  or  had  a  vivid  impression  that  a  vein  had 
burst,  and  that  my  husband,  who  was  sleeping  in  another 
room  up  another  flight  of  stairs,  was  there  and  called  my  atten- 
tion to  it.  I  thought  it  felt  wet  and  trickling  down  the  leg  as  if 
bleeding,  passed  my  hand  down  and  at  first  thought  it  seemed 
wet,  but  on  gaining  fuller  consciousness  found  all  right,  and 
that  it  was  not  more  painful  than  often  when  I  got  out  and 
stood  on  it.  Thought  over  the  contingency  of  its  actually 
bursting  and  whether  I  could  so  bandage  it  in  that  case  as  to 
make  it  safe  to  go  up  to  my  husband's  room,  and  thought  I 
could  do  so. 
"  Looking  at  my  watch  found  it  about  2.20." 

The  next  narrative  is  typical  of  a  large  class  of 
dreams  in  which  a  distant  scene  seems  to  be  flashed 
upon  the  eyes  of  the  percipient.  Of  course,  unless 
the  dream  is  actually  written  out  in  full  before  its 
correspondence  with  the  event  is  known,  we  cannot 
feel  confident  that  some  of  the  features  of  the  actual 
scene  have  not  been  unconsciously  read  back  into 
the  picture  preserved  in  the  memory,  especially 
since,  as  already  said,  the  memories  of  dream  scenes 
are  apt  to  be  much  fainter  and  more  indefinite  than 
the  memories  of  things  seen  with  the  bodily  eyes. 

The  following  case  was  told  at  the  time  and  written 
down  some  weeks  later.  We  cannot  pin  our  faith  to 
the  accuracy  of  all  the  details,  but  it  is  reasonably 
certain  that  Mrs.  Robinson  did  have  a  dream  of  an 
accident  to  her  son's  trap,  and  did  see  in  her  dream 
that  no  serious  harm  was  done,  or  perhaps  it  would 
be  safer  to  say  did  feel  no  serious  anxiety  on  account 
of  the  dream.  An  account  of  the  incident,  which  took 
place  on  the  17th  May,  1903,  was  first  communicated 
to  Dr.  Hodgson,  on  the  28th  May,  by  Mrs.  Ward,  a 
sister  of  the  dreamer.  Mrs.  Robinson's  own  account 
is  dated  7th  June,  1903. 

No.  14.  Bonnycot,  Anchorage, 

Kentucky,  June  7th,  1903. 

"In  compliance  with  my  sister's  request  and  yours  as  well  as 
with  my  own  interest  in  psychic  phenomenon,  I  shall  write  you 
of  this  last  experience  that  came  to  me  on  the  night  of 
May  17th. 


74  THE  NEW  VIEW  OF  GHOSTS 

"  My  son  and  a  friend  had  driven  across  the  country  to  dine 
and  spend  the  evening  with  friends.  The  rest  of  the  household 
had  retired  for  the  night.  I  was  awakened  by  the  telephone 
and  looked  at  the  clock,  finding  it  1 1 .30  p.m.  I  knew  my  son 
would  soon  be  in,  and  thought  of  a  window  downstairs  which  I 
felt  might  not  have  been  locked,  and  determined  to  remain 
awake  and  ask  my  son  to  make  sure  that  it  was  secure.  As  I 
lay  waiting  and  listening  for  him  I  suddenly  saw  their  vehicle, 
a  light  break-cart,  turn  over,  my  son  jump  out,  land  on  his  feet, 
run  to  the  struggling  horse's  head,  his  friend  hold  to  the  lines, 
and  in  a  moment  it  was  gone  and  I  knew  it  was  right  and  felt 
no  disturbance. 

"  I  met  my  son  as  he  came  in  and  spoke  of  the  window.  He 
said:  '  We  tripped  over,  mother.'  I  replied,  *Yes,  I  know  it. 
I  saw  you,'  and  described  what  I  saw  as  I  have  to  you,  which 
he  said  was  just  as  it  happened.  He  also  said :  '  I  thought  for 
a  moment  the  horse  would  go  up  over  the  railroad  tracks,'  and 
then  I  remembered  that  the  horse,  as  I  saw  him,  was  thrown 
up  an  embankment.  I  said :  *  This  happened  about  half-an- 
hour  ago.'  He  looked  at  his  watch,  it  was  12.15,  and  said, 
1  Yes.'  I  did  not  see  them  before  they  started  out,  as  his  friend 
called  for  him  with  his  horse  and  vehicle,  and  I  did  not  know 
in  what  style  they  went.  .  .  ."  HELEN  AVERY  ROBINSON. 

Mrs.  Robinson's  son  confirms  the  account  as 
follows  : —  June  23rd,  1903. 

"On  Sunday  night,  May  17th,  I  was  driving  with  a  friend 
from  Glenview  to  Anchorage,  Kentucky.  We  left  Glenview  at 
about  eleven  o'clock.  We  were  in  a  break-cart,  and  my  friend 
was  driving  a  young  and  spirited  horse.  There  was  no  moon, 
and  we  could  see  indistinctly  by  star-light.  About  twelve 
o'clock,  when  about  two  miles  from  home,  we  were  driving 
along  the  edge  of  a  wood  with  a  deep  railroad  cut  on  our  right. 
The  top  of  this  embankment  had  lately  been  levelled  off  and 
my  friend  mistook  it  for  the  road,  which  was  just  beside  the 
embankment  and,  in  the  faint  light,  seemed  to  be  about  level 
with  it.  When  I  called  his  attention  to  his  mistake  he  turned 
down  into  the  road  and  overturned  the  cart.  We  were  both 
thrown  out.  The  horse  was  startled  and  began  rearing.  I  ran 
around  the  cart  after  him  and  took  him  by  the  bridle,  although 
my  friend  had  not  lost  his  hold  on  the  reins.  We  righted  the 
cart  and  got  home  without  further  accident.  The  family  had 
been  in  bed  for  some  time,  but  my  mother  had  been  roused  at 
11.30  by  the  telephone.  As  I  came  in  she  gave  me  the  message. 
I  told  her  that  we  had  overturned  the  cart.  She  then  told  me 
that  she  had  seen  the  accident  at  12  o'clock  and,  without  sug- 
gestion from  me,  described  it  accurately.  She  had  seen  me 
thrown  out  backward  and  knew  how  I  had  run  around  after  the 
frightened  horse  to  catch  his  bridle,  which  I  did  only  after  he 
had  turned  completely  around."  AVERY  ROBINSON. 


COINCIDENT  DREAMS  75 

It  would  scarcely  be  worth  the  space  to  publish 
more  dream  stories.  Hundreds  of  similar  stories 
are  to  be  found  in  the  Journal  and  Proceedings  of  the 
Society  for  Psychical  Research ;  but,  as  already  said, 
from  the  nature  of  the  case  dream  coincidences, 
however  interesting  as  illustrating  the  development 
of  impressions  received,  whatever  theory  we  may 
adopt,  from  without,  can  add  but  little  to  the  evidence 
for  telepathy. 

I  will  conclude  this  brief  survey  by  reference  to 
one  anomalous  type  of  dream.  It  is  on  record  that 
the  bodies  of  drowned  persons  have  occasionally 
been  traced  by  means  of  a  dream.  The  facts  are 
unquestionable.  In  some  cases  it  has  been  given  in 
evidence  at  the  coroner's  inquest  by  the  police  or 
other  persons  who  were  conducting  the  search  that, 
after  labouring  fruitlessly  for  hours  or  days,  the 
drags  were  put  into  the  water  at  a  particular  spot  in 
consequence  of  a  dream  dreamt  by  one  of  the 
neighbours,  and  that  the  body  was  found  in  the  spot 
indicated.* 

Obviously  it  would  be  difficult  to  account  for  such  \ 
cases  by  telepathy,  since  the  only  possible  agent  has  : 
been  dead  for  some  days ;  and  on  the  whole,  if  all  | 
the  facts  are  before  us,  it  seems  that  the  most  prob-  j 
able  explanation  is  simply  chance  coincidence.     In  a  * 
country  district  the  disappearance  and  the  search 
would  occupy  the  thoughts  of  all  the  neighbours,  and 
would  be  likely  to  give  rise  to  numerous  dreams — 
but  we  do  not  hear  of  the  unsuccessful   searches. 
Probably  dreams  of  the  Derby  winner,  some  of  which 
are  unquestionably  authentic,  are  to  be  explained  in 
the  same  way.     Those  who  have  put  their  money  on 
a  dream  and  lost  are  not  likely  to  publish  the  matter 
abroad.     And  it  is  significant  that  these  dreams  of 
finding  dead  bodies  relate  almost  exclusively  to  death 
by  drowning  in  a  river  or  lake.     Children  are  some- 
times lost  on  the  moor  or  in  the  forest,  but  I  can  recall 
no  well  authenticated  case  of  their  recovery,  living  or 

*  For  examples,  see  the  cases  extracted  from  the  newspapers  in  the 
S.P.R.  Journal  for  July,  1895;  November,  1902;  October,  1903; 


76  THE  NEW  VIEW  OF  GHOSTS 

dead,  through  a  dream.  Obviously  a  chance  dream 
in  such  a  case  is  less  likely  to  hit  the  mark,  because 
the  area  to  be  explored  is  so  much  larger.  There  is, 
however,  one  well  authenticated  case  in  which  the 
skeleton  of  a  man  dead,  presumably  murdered,  some 
forty  years  previously  was  discovered  through  a 
repeated  dream.  In  this  case,  however,  the  dreamer 
is  now  dead,  and  it  seems  possible,  if  we  knew  more 
of  the  circumstances,  that  an  explanation  on  normal 
lines  might  suggest  itself.* 

One  case  of  the  finding  of  a  drowned  body  may, 
however,  be  quoted,  partly  because  it  will  illustrate 
the  facts,  partly  because  a  possible  solution  other 
than  chance  is  indicated. 

On  Monday,  October  31st,  1898,  at  6  a.m.,  Bertha 
Huse  left  her  home  at  Enfield,  New  Hampshire,  and 
was  seen  to  go  down  the  street  on  to  the  Shaker's 
Bridge,  a  wooden  structure  on  piles  and  cribs  about 
300  yards  long,  crossing  a  lake.  She  was  seen  on 
the  bridge,  but  was  never  again  seen  alive.  On  her 
disappearance  becoming  known  later  in  the  day  about 
150  persons  searched  the  woods  on  the  shore  of  the 
lake.  On  Tuesday  a  diver  came  down  and  searched 
the  water  alongside  the  bridge  up  till  Wednesday 
noon;  the  search  by  diving  was  then  abandoned,  but 
some  gunpowder  was  sent  for  in  the  hope  of  bringing 
the  body  to  the  surface  of  the  lake.  On  Thursday 
morning  at  6  a.m.  George  Titus  told  some  of  his 
neighbours  that  his  wife  had  had  a  dream  the  pre- 
vious evening  in  which  she  saw  the  body  in  the  water 
of  the  lake.  On  their  advice  he  borrowed  a  buggy 
and  drove  his  wife  to  Enfield.  They  told  their  story 
to  Mr.  Whitney,  who  was  conducting  the  search,  and 
accompanying  him  and  the  diver  on  to  the  bridge 
Mrs.  Titus,  after  some  moving  about  and  hesitation, 
identified  the  exact  spot  indicated  in  her  dream,  said 
that  the  body  was  lying  below  fixed  in  the  woodwork 
head  downwards — she  had  in  her  dream,  she  said, 
seen  the  girl  slip  backwards — and  that  one  foot  was 

*  See  the  account  of  the  case  in  the  Author's  The  Naturalisation  oj 
the  Supernatural^  pp.  254-6. 


COINCIDENT  DREAMS  77 

projecting.  The  diver  demurred  to  being  made  a 
fool  of,  but  Mr.  Whitney  requested  him  to  go  down 
once  "  in  order  to  satisfy  the  villagers."  He  went 
down  at  the  spot  indicated,  and  10  feet  below  the 
surface  of  the  water  he  struck  against  the  projecting 
foot.  The  body  was  found,  as  stated  by  the  dreamer, 
lying  head  downwards  in  the  woodwork.  The  water 
was  so  dark  that  the  diver  could  see  nothing,  and  it 
would  have  been  absolutely  impossible  for  anything 
to  have  been  seen  from  above. 

Dr.  Harris  Kennedy,  a  connection  by  marriage  of 
Professor  James,  of  Harvard,  heard  of  the  events 
at  the  time  from  his  brother  who  happened  to  be 
staying  in  the  neighbourhood.  Dr.  Kennedy  went 
down  himself  within  a  few  days,  interviewed  the  chief 
witnesses,  and  procured  their  signed  attestations. 
The  diver,  the  most  important  witness,  gave  his 
evidence  on  November  21st  in  Boston  at  a  meeting 
of  a  Medical  Society.  The  accuracy  of  the  descrip- 
tion given  by  Mrs.  Titus  of  the  position  in  which  the 
body  would  be  found  had  deeply  impressed  him. 

The  main  facts  here  are  unquestionably  authentic. 
The  search  had  been  given  up  as  hopeless ;  it  was 
renewed  and  the  body  found,  solely  in  consequence 
of  a  dream.  Unless  the  dreamer  had  actually  seen 
the  accident,  or  had  been  told  by  Bertha  Huse  that 
she  intended  to  commit  suicide,  and  the  precise  place 
and  manner  in  which  she  proposed  to  effect  her 
purpose,  it  seems  impossible  to  account  for  the  facts. 
If  it  was  merely  a  chance  coincidence,  it  was  an 
extraordinarily  lucky  hit.  We  can  hardly  explain  the 
facts  as  they  stand  by  telepathy.  If  due  to  any 
supernormal  cause  it  would  seem  that  we  must  either 
invoke  the  agency  of  the  dead  girl's  spirit,  or  assume 
on  the  part  of  Mrs.  Titus  a  supernormal  faculty  of 
seeing.  For  this  hypothetical  faculty,  which  has 
been  named  Clairvoyance,  there  is  practically  no 
evidence  which  will  bear  critical  examination.  There 
is,  however,  one  significant  detail  which  I  have 
omitted  from  the  summary  of  the  evidence  because 


78  THE  NEW  VIEW  OF  GHOSTS 

it  rests  upon  the  testimony  of  one  person  only. 
George  Titus,  in  telling  the  story  to  his  neighbours 
on  Thursday  morning,  appears  to  have  mentioned 
only  that  his  wife  had  had  a  dream  or  trance  on  the 
previous  evening,  at  least  that  is  all  that  they 
remember.  But  his  own  account,  given  to  Dr. 
Kennedy  a  few  days  later  and  signed  by  him,  begins 
as  follows : — 

"Sunday,  October  30th,  1898.— Mrs.  Titus  said  to  her 
husband,  *  George,  something  awful  is  going  to  happen.  I 
cannot  tell  you  now  what  it  is,  but  may  later  on.' 

"Monday,  October  J/s£.~Just  about  6.40  a.m.,  as  Mr.  Titus 
was  leaving  for  the  mill,  his  wife  said,  *  That  has  happened.1 
At  noon  (on  the  Monday)  Mr.  Titus  told  his  wife  that  the  Huse 
girl  (a  sister  of  the  one  drowned)  had  gone  home,  Mr.  Titus 
remarking  that  perhaps  her  mother  was  ill,  at  least  so  some  of 
the  people  at  the  mill  thought.  Mrs.  Titus  said,  *  It  is  something 
worse,  I  can  feel.1  " 

Now  if  Mr.  Titus's  memory  is  to  be  trusted — and 
it  is  difficult  to  believe  that  these  details  were  uncon- 
sciously invented — neither  chance  coincidence  nor 
clairvoyance  will  explain  the  facts ;  for  it  would 
appear  that  Mrs.  Titus  knew  whilst  the  girl  was  still 
alive  of  her  impending  death,  knew  of  the  death  at 
the  exact  moment  of  its  occurrence,  and  knew  two  or 
three  days  later  the  exact  place  and  manner  of  the 
occurrence.  It  is  clear  that,  unless  we  are  prepared 
to  add  prophecy  to  clairvoyance,  the  information  can 
have  come  only  from  the  girl  herself.  On  the 
assumption  that  she  confided  her  intention  of  com- 
mitting suicide  to  her  neighbour,  and  that  Mrs.  Titus 
for  her  part  kept  the  secret,  we  must  further  assume 
that  the  girl  had  determined  beforehand  on  the 
exact  time,  place  and  manner  of  her  death,  that  the 
particular  pier  had  been  selected  beforehand,  that 
the  falling  backward  from  the  bridge  was  deliber- 
ately calculated,  and  that  she  communicated  all 
these  trivial  details  also  to  Mrs.  Titus.  The  tele- 
pathic explanation  of  the  facts  is  at  least  more 
plausible;  the  girl's  brooding  misery  may  have 
vaguely  communicated  itself  to  Mrs.  Titus;  a 
definite  image  of  the  disaster  may  have  been  im- 


COINCIDENT  DREAMS  79 

pressed  upon  her  mind  by  the  mind  of  the  unhappy 
girl  at  the  time  of  death.  We  must  further  suppose 
that  the  sensory  image  so  impressed  remained  latent 
in  the  mind  of  the  recipient,  and  did  not  begin  to 
emerge  from  the  dream  consciousness  until  some 
sixty  hours  later,  the  first  dream  or  trance  occurring 
at  7.30  p.m.  on  the  Wednesday.  This  assumption 
presents  some  difficulty,  for  such  a  prolonged  period 
of  latency  in  the  case  of  an  impression  of  this  char- 
acter would  no  doubt  be  unusual;  but  there  are 
other  cases  of  deferred  impression  which  may  throw 
some  light  on  the  subject.  A  post-hypnotic  suggestion 
may  be  timed  to  explode  in  hallucination  after  an 
interval  of  days,  weeks,  or  even  months.  It  must  be 
admitted  that  the  explanation  of  this  case  on  tele- 
pathic lines  presents  some  difficulty ;  but  can  anyone 
suggest  a  better  explanation  that  will  cover  the  facts 
without  invoking  agencies  yet  more  remote  from 
common  experience  ? 

It  should  be  stated  that  we  have  a  case  in  which 
the  exact  scene  of  a  suicide  was  seen  in  a  waking 
vision  some  days  before  the  event.  The  seer  was  a 
stranger  to  the  man  who  committed  suicide.  The 
murder  of  William  Terriss,  with  many  of  the  attend- 
ant circumstances,  was  foreseen  in  a  dream  vision 
on  the  night  preceding  the  crime.  The  case  is 
thoroughly  well  attested;  the  dreamer  told  her 
dream  to  several  of  her  colleagues  at  noon,  seven 
hours  before  the  tragedy.* 

In  both  these  cases  it  is  natural  to  refer  the  vision 
to  the  mind  of  the  unhappy  man  picturing  to  himself 
the  scene  of  his  fatal  act.  A  similar  explanation 
may  possibly  fit  the  historic  case  of  Mr.  Williams' 
dream  of  the  assassination  of  Mr.  Spencer  Perceval 
in  the  lobby  of  the  House  of  Commons  in  1812 ;  but 
it  seems  doubtful  whether  the  evidence  in  this  case 
is  sufficiently  clear  to  substantiate  the  story.  A 
case  of  a  frustrated  attempt  at  suicide,  apparently 
involving  telepathic  intimation,  is  set  forth  in  the 
next  chapter. 

*  See  a  full  account  of  the  case  in  Tht  Naturalisation  of  the 
Supernatural,  pp.  353-6. 


80  THE  NEW  VIEW  OF  GHOSTS 


CHAPTER  VI. 

SPONTANEOUS   TELEPATHY 

THERE  is  a  widespread  belief,  even  amongst  the 
better  educated  classes,  or  perhaps  specially  amongst 
the  better  educated  classes,  in  the  influence  of  mental 
action  in  ordinary  life.  We  constantly  meet  persons 
who  tell  us  that  by  gazing  fixedly  at  the  back  of  his 
head  they  can  make  a  stranger  sitting  in  front  of 
them  in  church  turn  round ;  that  by  the  exercise  of 
silent  will  they  can  bring  an  acquaintance  to  their 
side  from  across  a  crowded  room ;  that  when  they 
write  to  an  intimate  correspondent  the  letter  crosses; 
that  when  they  casually  think  of  a  distant  friend  they 
are  liable  to  run  against  him  in  the  next  street — 
and  so  on.  Unfortunately,  a  widespread  belief  of 
the  kind  is  no  evidence  of  the  truth  of  telepathy, 
rather  the  reverse.  For  the  belief,  in  most  cases, 
can  be  sufficiently  explained  by,  if  it  is  not  in  all 
cases  actually  based  on,  the  natural  tendency  to 
count  the  hits  and  ignore  the  misses.  Obviously, 
when  we  are  dealing  with  such  trivial  incidents  the 
only  possible  proof  of  causation  must  be  sought  in  a 
long  series  of  carefully  conducted  trials,  in  which  all 
the  results,  favourable  and  unfavourable  alike,  are 
exactly  recorded.  Few  persons,  it  need  scarcely  be 
said,  have  the  leisure  or  the  patience  for  keeping  such 
a  record,  nor  is  it  easy,  even  when  we  have  a  diary  of 
this  kind  before  us,  to  feel  confident  that  it  is  really 
an  accurate  record.  Most  persons  require  some 
training  in  scientific  habits  of  thought  before  they 
can  learn  to  be  quite  honest  with  themselves  in  such 
matters.  Positive  results  are  so  much  more  interest- 
ing, and  the  desire  to  edify  and  to  excite  wonder  is 
so  deeply  rooted  in  our  human  nature. 


SPONTANEOUS  TELEPATHY  81 

One  or  two  diaries,  however,  of  trivial  apparently 
telepathic  happenings,  preserved  among  the  records 
of  the  Society  for  Psychical  Research,  seem  to  call 
for  some  consideration.  Mrs.  S.,  a  patient  of  Dr. 
Duke,  of  Rugby,  kept  such  a  diary  for  a  full  twelve 
months,  from  22nd  December,  1893,  to  27th  Decem- 
ber, 1894.  The  number  of  hits  recorded  is  out  of  all 
proportion  to  the  number  of  misses.*  And  though 
most  of  the  incidents  were  in  themselves  trivial,  there 
is  evidence  in  some  cases  that  they  were  recorded 
before  the  result  was  known ;  whilst  in  other  cases 
we  have  the  corroborative  evidence  of  Dr.  Duke  him- 
self, that  he  was  aware  of  the  receipt  of  telepathic 
messages  and  took  action  accordingly.  Dr.  Duke 
gives  his  personal  testimony  to  the  entire  trust- 
worthiness of  Mrs.  S.  Mrs.  S.  herself  assures  us 
that  the  entries  were  always  written  on  the  date 
shewn,  generally  in  the  evening,  unless  a  special  note 
is  put  against  the  entry.  Appended  is  an  extract 
from  this  diary,  giving  a  fortnight's  consecutive 
entries  near  the  beginning  of  the  record,  which  will 
serve  as  a  sample  of  the  whole.  It  will  be  observed 
that  intimation  of  a  death  is  recorded  in  the  diary 
before  the  news  was  received. 

No.  15. 

"January  21. — I  willed  very  hard  indeed  that  Dr.  Z.  should 
come  here  before  12  o'clock,  just  to  prove  if  I  could  bring  him. 
He  came  just  before  the  time.  My  husband  was  at  home,  and 
I  told  him  afterwards. 

"January  24. — This  morning  I  was  thinking  of  Mrs.  T.  B., 
and  said  how  I  should  like  her  to  come  in  ;  I  wanted  to  speak 
to  her.  This  was  at  11.30  a.m.,  and  in  the  afternoon  she  came, 
and  I  told  her  I  was  thinking  of  her  in  the  morning,  and  she 
said  she  made  up  her  mind  to  come  while  she  was  cleaning  her 
kitchen  up  in  the  morning,  after  11  a.m. 

"January  26. — I  am  again  feeling  Dr.  Z.  will  call.  He  did, 
before  E.  had  finished  dusting  the  room.  I  knew  he  would. 

*  Excluding  some  doubtful  cases,  I  find  in  the  diary  122  entries  of  pre- 
sentiments or  efforts  of  will  relating  to  definite  events,  such  as  the  arrival 
of  medicine,  a  visit  from  the  Dr.,  a  call  from  a  neighbour,  the  receipt  of  a 
letter,  etc.  Of  these,  117  corresponded  with  the  fact,  and  26  of  the  117 
are  recorded  as  having  been  written  before  the  result  was  known,  The 
record  shews,  therefore,  only  5  failures. 


82  THE  NEW  VIEW  OF  GHOSTS 

To-night  a  rap  came  at  the  front  door.  I  felt  it  was  a  poor 
woman  named  M.,  and  I  told  Mr.  S.  it  was,  and  I  would  not 
see  her,  and  it  was  her.  I  had  no  reason  for  thinking  of  her, 
only  I  felt  it. 

"  January  27. — I  expect  to  hear  my  Aunt  S.  is  much  worse 
or  has  passed  away.  I  am  thinking  so  much  about  her  all  day. 

"  January  28. — The  feeling  about  Aunt  is  not  so  strong  to-day. 

"January  29. — I  shall  hear  from  Mrs.  Ph.  to-day.  I  did. 
We  had  a  letter  saying  Aunt  passed  away  at  quarter  to  six 
o'clock  on  Sunday,  27th. 

"January  31. — I  felt  Dr.  Z.  would  come  this  morning;  but 
he  did  not. 

"  February  1. — Dr.  Z.  came.  I  knew  he  was  coming  quite 
well,  and  hurried  E.  to  get  my  room  done.  He  said  he  wanted 
to  come  yesterday,  but  was  too  busy,  he  could  not  bring  it  in. 

"  February  4.— I  was  again  talking  about  the  B.'s  in  C.-street, 
and  they  came  in  to  see  me." 

Such  incidents  can,  of  course,  only  impress  us  by 
their  number,  and  then  only  if  we  can  be  sure  that 
the  record  is  complete.  When,  however,  the  impres- 
sion made  upon  the  percipient  is  of  a  more  unusual 
character,  or  the  corresponding  incident  is  of  less 
frequent  occurrence,  we  are  entitled  to  surmise 
something  more  than  chance  coincidence.  The 
following  incident,  though  with  one  or  two  possible 
exceptions  isolated  in  the  percipient's  experience, 
will  no  doubt  impress  the  reader  as  affording  prima 
facie  stronger  evidence  for  telepathic  action.  The 
narrative  comes  from  correspondents  in  New 
Zealand  who  have  requested  that  their  real  names 
may  be  withheld. 

No.  16. 

March  30th,  1904. 

"  Six  years  ago  I  was  living  with  my  father  and  a  sister  and 
brother  on  a  farm,  5  miles  from  the  nearest  township  and  about 
60  miles  from  Wellington.  My  friend,  Miss  Wilson,  was  living 
here  in  Wellington  with  her  mother,  and  Miss  Wilson  and  I 
kept  up  a  regular  correspondence.  One  morning  I  awoke  very 
early  and  felt  a  strong  desire  to  write  a  story.  I  sat  up  in  bed 
and  began  at  once.  I  finished  it  at  about  noon,  and  when  my 
sister  asked  me  to  read  it  aloud  to  her,  I  said  I  could  not,  as 
the  idea  was  so  painful,  and  that  I  had  put  Mrs.  Wilson  in  as 
one  of  the  characters  and  that  she  died  of  cancer.  I  felt  very 
depressed.  Of  course,  as  far  as  any  of  us  knew,  Mrs.  Wilson 


SPONTANEOUS  TELEPATHY  83 

•was  quite  well  and  we  had  never  associated  this  disease  with 
her.  Nevertheless  I  wished  I  had  not  written  the  story.  This 
happened  on  a  Sunday,  and  on  the  next  day  I  received  a  long 
letter  from  Miss  Wilson  telling  me  that  her  mother  had  been 
operated  on  successfully  on  the  preceding  day  (Sunday)  at  noon 
for  cancer.  She  explained  that  she  and  her  mother  had  known 
of  the  necessity  for  the  operation  for  ten  days  before,  and  that 
she  had  written  me  a  letter  telling  me  of  it  as  soon  as  she  knew, 
but  that  her  mother  had  persuaded  her  to  destroy  the  letter, 
because  of  our  living  so  far  from  the  post  and  telegraph  office, 
and  because  our  mails  were  so  irregular.  Mrs  Wilson  was  a 
thoughtful  woman  and  knew  that  we  would  be  very  nervous, 
and  had  no  means  of  communicating  quickly  with  them.  Miss 
Wilson  therefore  had  written  just  as  regularly  as  usual,  but 
had  given  us  no  idea  that  anything  was  amiss.  A  fortnight 
later  Mrs.  Wilson  died. 

"  Most  of  my  intimate  friends  know  of  this  incident,  and  up 
till  quite  recently  I  possessed  the  manuscript.  My  sister  and 
my  brother  knew  I  had  written  it,  before  we  had  even  heard 
Mrs.  Wilsen  was  ill." 

To  the  whole  of  the  narrative,  another  extract  from 
which  is  given  below,  the  following  note  is  attached; 

March  30th,  1904. 

"We  have  read  the  paper  written  by  my  sister  for  the 
S.  P.  R.  and  wish  to  say  that  the  occurrences  took  place  in 
the  order  in  which  she  has  described  them. 

"  M.  BUTLER  (sister  of  the  narrator). 
"  M.WILSON." 

"Miss  Wilson,"  writing  on  the  29th  of  June,  1904, 
gives  a  full  account  of  the  circumstances  attending 
her  mother's  illness.  The  operation  took  place  on 
the  morning  of  Sunday,  July  the  19th,  1897,  and  she 
wrote  to  "  Miss  Butler  "  as  soon  as  the  operation  was 
over,  having  purposely  withheld  all  news  of  the 
illness  until  then. 

The  evidence  in  this  case,  it  will  be  seen,  is  nearly 
seven  years  old,  but  it  is  not  a  case  in  which  it  would 
seem  probable  that  the  memory  can  have  played 
tricks  with  the  facts.  Miss  Butler  can  hardly  have 
imagined  that  she  wrote  a  story  which  had  never 
been  written,  and  preserved  it  for  some  years,  and  it 
is  scarcely  likely  that  she  should  have  written  such 
a  story  as  described  after  hearing  of  Mrs.  Wilson's 
illness. 


84  THE  NEW  VIEW  OF  GHOSTS 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  transferred  impression 
in  this  case  led  to  action,  as  in  some  of  the  cases 
recorded  in  Mrs.  S.'s  diary.  More  generally  the  im- 
pression is  embodied  simply  as  a  vague  emotion,  or 
an  idea,  sometimes  rising  to  the  level  of  a  quasi- 
hallucination.  Such  appears  to  have  been  the  nature 
of  the  percipient's  impression  in  the  following  case, 
a  visual  image  probably  comparable  in  distinctness 
with  a  crystal  vision. 

The  case  is  recorded  by  M.  Charles  Richet,  Pro- 
fessor of  Physiology  at  the  University  of  Paris.  The 
percipient  was  again  Madame  B.  (Leonie),  whose 
acquaintance  we  made  in  a  previous  chapter. 

No.  17. — From  Professor  Richet. 

On  Monday,  July  2nd  [1888],  after  having  passed  all  the  day 
in  my  laboratory,  I  hypnotised  Leonie  at  8  p.m.,  and  while  she 
tried  to  make  out  a  diagram  concealed  in  an  envelope,  I  said  to 
her  quite  suddenly — 'What  has  happened  to  M.  Langlois?' 
Leonie  knows  M.  Langlois  from  having  seen  him  two  or  three 
times,  some  time  ago,  in  my  physiological  laboratory,  when  he 
acts  as  my  assistant.  '  He  has  burnt  himself,'  Leonie  replied. 
'Good,'  I  said,  'and  where  has  he  burnt  himself?'  'On  the 
left  hand.  It  is  not  fire.  I  don't  know  its  name.  Why  does 
he  not  take  care  when  he  pours  it  out ?  '  'Of  what  colour,'  I 
asked,  '  is  the  stuff  which  he  pours  out  ? '  '  It  is  not  red,  it  is 
brown  ;  he  has  hurt  himself  very  much — the  skin  puffed  up 
directly.' 

"  Now,  this  description  is  admirably  exact.  At  4  p.m.  that 
day  M.  Langlois  had  wished  to  pour  some  bromine  into  a  bottle. 
He  had  done  this  clumsily,  so  that  some  of  the  bromine  flowed 
on  to  his  left  hand,  which  held  the  funnel,  and  at  once  burnt 
him  severely.  Although  he  at  once  put  his  hand  in  water, 
wherever  the  bromine  had  touched  it  a  blister  was  formed  in  a 
few  seconds — a  blister  which  one  could  not  better  describe  than 
by  saying,  'the  skin  puffed  up.'  I  need  not  say  that  Leonie 
had  not  left  my  house,  nor  seen  anyone  from  my  laboratory. 
Of  this  I  am  absolutely  certain,  and  I  am  certain  that  I  had 
not  mentioned  the  incident  of  the  burn  to  anybody.  Moreover, 
this  was  the  first  time  for  nearly  a  year  that  M.  Langlois  had 
handled  bromine,  and  when  Leonie  saw  him  six  months  before 
at  the  laboratory  he  was  engaged  in  experiments  of  quite 
another  kind.  Or  course,  I  give  here  all  the  words  I  used,  and 
only  the  words  I  used,  when  I  interrogated  Leonie." 

"  It  is  not  red,  it  is  brown,"  is  a  very  fair  descrip- 
tion of  the  nondescript  colour  of  bromine. 


SPONTANEOUS  TELEPATHY  85 

In  the  case  of  sight  we  can  distinguish  a  long 
gradation  of  images,  each  exhibiting  more  and  more 
of  sensory  quality,  from  the  mere  memory  image, 
through  the  mind's  eye  vision  and  the  crystal  vision, 
up  to  the  fully  externalised  hallucination  which  is 
liable  to  be  mistaken  for  a  real  message  from  the 
world  outside.  In  the  case  of  the  lower  senses  no 
such  distinction  can  be  made.  We  cannot  say 
whether  an  illusory  perception  of  pain  partakes  more 
or  less  of  the  nature  of  a  hallucination.  In  the 
following  case,  for  instance,  we  have  the  percipient's 
word  for  it  that  an  imaginary  pain  was  so  keenly  felt 
as  to  make  him  search  for  a  real  cause  and  to  find 
none  in  his  own  proper  organism.  But  we  cannot 
of  course  say,  and  he  cannot  tell  us,  whether  the 
imaginary  pain  was  as  severe  as  a  real  one  would 
have  been.  The  account  was  written  by  a  trained 
observer,  Mr.  E.  E.  Robinson,  assistant  to  Sir  Oliver 
Lodge. 

No.  18. — From  Mr.  E.  E.  Robinson. 

Fernlea,  Willow  Avenue,  Edgbaston, 

16th  December,  1905. 

"  On  Sunday  morning,  December  10th,  1905,  I  was  in  bed, 
thinking  of  nothing  in  particular.  Mrs.  R.  was  dressing.  I 
experienced  an  aching  pain  in  my  thumb — the  kind  of  pain  that 
would  be  produced  by  a  hole  made  by  something  running  in. 
The  pain  was  so  distinct  and  the  sensation  of  having  a  hole  in 
the  thumb  so  real  that  I  held  up  my  thumb  to  look  for  it.  I 
found  there  was  no  such  hole,  and  the  moment  I  realised  this 
the  pain  went.  Almost  at  the  same  instant  Mrs.  R.  said  to  me 
*  I  have  a  great  difficulty  in  dressing,  my  thumb  is  so  painful.' 
Two  days  before  she  had  hurt  her  thumb  by  running  a  nail  into 
it.  She  mentioned  the  fact  to  me  at  the  time ;  as  she  did  not 
mention  it  again,  the  circumstance  had  been  completely  for- 
gotten by  me.  I  certainly  had  no  idea  of  it  at  the  time 
mentioned  above.  E.  E.  ROBINSON."* 

I  will  conclude  this  chapter  by  citing  a  case  of  a 
more  enigmatic  character.  Unfortunately  neither 
names,  dates  nor  locality  can  be  given.  But  the 
facts  are  as  well  attested  as  under  the  peculiar  cir- 
cumstances can  be  reasonably  demanded.  The 

*  Journal,  S.P.R.,  May,  1907. 


8G  THE  NEW  VIEW  OF  GHOSTS 

narrative  is  copied  from  a  long  account  written  by 
the  percipient,  the  late  Dr.  X.,  in  his  diary,  "  a  little 
over  a  month  after  the  occurrence,"  in  order  to 
preserve  the  record  with  a  view  to  possible 
publication. 

Dr.  Hyslop,  sometime  Professor  of  Philosophy  in 
the  University  of  Columbia,  New  York,  and  now 
editor  of  the  publications  of  the  American  Society 
for  Psychical  Research,  has  seen  the  original  record 
in  the  diary.  He  tells  us  further  that  Mrs.  X.  has 
attested  the  facts  so  far  as  they  came  within  her 
knowledge,  and  we  learn  from  her  that  the  other 
person  concerned,  who  is  still  living,  admits  the 
accuracy  of  the  record  and  is  willing  that  it  should 
be  published,  but  has  not  unnaturally  stipulated  for 
the  withholding  of  all  names  and  other  particulars 
which  might  lead  to  identification.  The  incident 
took  place,  as  Dr.  Hyslop  tells  us,  within  the  last 
fifteen  years.  Briefly,  the  facts  as  recorded  in  Dr. 
X.'s  account  are  as  follows : — * 

On  Thursday  evening,  29th  August,  Dr.  X.,  rector 

of church,  was  preparing  to  write  his  Sunday 

sermon  when  Mr.  A.,  his  senior  warden,  was 
announced.  Some  desultory  conversation  ensued, 
until  at  length  the  visitor  led  the  conversation 
towards  the  theme  of  suicide,  quoting  the  arguments 
of  certain  writers  in  defence  of  the  act  and  asking 
the  Doctor's  opinion.  Dr.  X.  "  was  about  to  reply  in 
hot  indignation  to  their  shallow  arguments,"  when 
he  was  interrupted  by  an  urgent  summons  to  a  sick 
bed.  He  promised  his  visitor,  however,  to  preach  a 
sermon  on  the  subject  on  the  following  Sunday,  and 
asked  him  to  attend.  Mr.  A.  hesitated  a  good  deal 
and  finally  said,  "  I  wish  I  might — but — but  Pm  not 
sure  that  Pll  be  there."  Mr.  A.'s  manner  impressed 
the  Doctor,  but  apparently  did  not  excite  any  definite 
suspicion  of  his  intention. 

It  was  not  until  Saturday  evening  that  Dr.  X* 
again  found  himself  at  liberty  to  sit  down  to  his 

*  Journal,  American  S.P.R.,  October,  1908. 


SPONTANEOUS  TELEPATHY  87 

sermon,  and  then  a  strange  restlessness  came  upon 
him.  Though  he  knew  that  the  sermon  must  be 
written  before  Sunday  morning,  he  was  utterly  un- 
able to  control  his  thoughts,  and  found  himself  con- 
stantly wandering  to  the  window  to  look  out  at  the 
thick  sea  fog.  Not  an  unusual  experience  with  many 
of  us  when  something  has  to  be  written ;  but  we  have 
Dr.  X.'s  express  statement  that  he,  at  any  rate,  had 
never  felt  anything  of  the  kind  before.  After  some 
hour  or  so  he  found  himself,  with  his  sermon  still 
inchoate,  standing  on  the  porch  and  looking  out  on 
the  beach.  "  It  was  a  misty,  heavy  night,  and  the 
dense,  grey  fog  gave  a  desolate  and  gloomy  aspect 
to  all  around.  There  was  an  oppressive  silence  in 
the  air,  an  ominous  silence  that  filled  my  whole  soul 
with  a  prescient  sense  of  impending  horror.  I 
strained  my  ears  for  some  sound  to  relieve  the  dread- 
ful impression  ....  I  felt  a  mad  impulse  to  leap  the 
railing  on  which  my  hand  was  resting  and  rush  to 
the  beach  .  *  .  .  I  became  strongly  agitated,  my 
head  became  bathed  in  a  cold  sweat,  I  shook  all  over 
as  though  seized  with  an  ague. 

"  Suddenly  ...  I  was  startled  by  a  low  mournful 
cry  which  seemed  to  come  out  of  the  fog  enveloping 
the  lowland.  My  blood  curdled,  so  weird  and  awful 
did  it  sound  in  the  ominous  and  mysterious  stillness. 
Again  and  again  it  pierced  my  ears,  pierced  my  very 
soul ;  at  the  same  instant  the  gloom  seemed  to  give 
way  to  a  narrow  streak  of  intense  white  light,  through 
which  I  peered  startled  and  wild  eyed,  until  the  path 
leading  to  the  beach  and  then  the  beach  itself  became 
as  distinct  as  at  noonday.  Then  suddenly  at  the  end 
of  the  narrow  streak,  at  the  very  water's  edge,  a 
man.  In  an  instant  I  recognised  him;  it  was  my 
senior  warden.  He  was  standing  facing  me,  his 
head  upraised  as  though  trying  to  pierce  the  dense 
fog  above  him ;  his  hands  hung  at  his  side*  the  left 
clenched  hard,  the  right  holding  a  glittering  some- 
thing. I  knew  what  that  something  was,  and  what 
the  look  on  his  face  meant." 


88  THE  NEW  VIEW  OF  GHOSTS 

Dr.  X.  then  tells  us  that  he  jumped  over  the  rail- 
ing, rushed  through  the  fog  and  mire,  hatless  and  in 
slippers,  groped  his  way  through  the  darkness,  and 
finally  came  upon  Mr.  A.  just  in  time  to  snatch  the 
pistol  from  him.  Mrs.  X.,  naturally  alarmed,  had 
followed  her  husband,  and  the  two  together  brought 
back  Mr.  A.  to  the  Rectory.  Dr.  X.  explains  that 
Mr.  A.  had  uttered  no  cry,  that  his  wife  had  heard 
no  cry  and  seen  no  light,  and  he  therefore  concludes : 
"  While  I  stood  at  the  window  it  was  his  soul  I  heard 
calling  to  me  in  that  dreadful  moment,  his  great  wish 
to  put  his  argument  to  the  final  test  of  my  reasoning, 
that  had  lighted  up  the  dense  fog  and  compelled  me 
against  my  very  will  to  go  to  him." 

The  incident  can  be  variously  interpreted.  By 
some,  no  doubt,  it  will  be  dismissed  as  a  mere  coin- 
cidence, subconsciously  improved  in  the  telling  for 
the  purposes  of  edification.  In  favour  of  this  view 
it  may  be  pointed  out  that  Dr.  X.  had  undoubtedly 
some  ground  for  anxiety  and  even  suspicion  on  Mr. 
A.'s  account,  though  this  feeling  was  not,  according 
to  his  own  recollection,  explicit  in  his  consciousness 
at  the  time.  Moreover,  the  account  is  perhaps  too 
dramatic  and  too  highly  coloured  to  inspire  complete 
confidence.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  difficult  to 
believe,  in  face  of  the  corroborative  testimony,  that 
the  main  facts  have  been  perverted.  Dr.  X.  himself, 
\it  will  have  been  observed,  explains  the  episode  as  a 
|call  from  soul  to  soul — what  we  have  named  tele- 
Apathy.  To  Dr.  Hyslop,  who  has  an  inclination — 
which  in  a  mind  of  less  philosophic  temper  we  might 
be  tempted  to  call  a  prejudice — against  the  theory 
of  telepathy,  the  explanation  seems  premature  and 
difficult  to  reconcile  with  the  light  and  the  cry,  both 
of  which  were  apparently  subjective.  In  fact,  how- 
ever, the  light  and  the  cry  need  present  no  difficulty 
on  the  telepathic  hypothesis.  Dr.  X.,  on  his  own 
showing,  was  in  a  state  of  extreme  emotional  tension 
on  the  Saturday  evening,  itself  the  result,  on  the 
hypothesis,  of  the  emotion  communicated  to  him 


SPONTANEOUS  TELEPATHY  89 

from  Mr.  A.,  and  the  occurence  of  subjective  sensa- 
tions (hallucinations)  in  such  a  state  is  by  no  means 
unusual.  A  state  of  simple  strained  expectation  will 
cause  many  people  to  hear  sounds  in  the  silence,  or 
to  see  lights  in  the  dark,  as  spirit-Mediums  have 
found  to  their  profit.  Of  course,  a  subjective  light 
would  not  enable  a  man  to  see  a  real  figure.  The 
vision  of  Mr.  A.  grasping  the  pistol — if  we  can 
assume  that  Dr.  X.'s  memory  can  be  relied  upon, 
and  that  his  recollection  of  the  vision  has  not  simply 
incorporated  part  of  his  subsequent  experience — 
must  be  regarded  as  part  of  the  hallucination.  It  is 
to  be  regretted  that  the  circumstances  preclude  all 
possibility  of  further  enquiry  into  this  interesting 
case. 


90  THE  NEW  VIEW  OF  GHOSTS 


CHAPTER  VII 

EXPERIMENTAL  GHOSTS 

IN  our  first  chapter  we  gave  a  few  well  attested 
examples  of  what,  in  common  speech,  are  called 
Ghosts.  In  subsequent  chapters  we  analysed  the 
popular  conception  of  a  ghost  as  a  semi-material 
entity  having  substance  and  extension  in  space,  and 
shewed  the  inherent  difficulties  of  the  conception. 
Reasons  were  adduced  for  regarding  so  called  ghosts 
as  simply  hallucinations — images  created  by  the 
seer's  imagination,  dreams  of  the  daylight.  But  it 
was  shewn  further  that  these  dream  figures  were 
reported  so  constantly  that,  on  any  reasonable  esti- 
mate of  the  trustworthiness  of  human  testimony,  it 
was  impossible  to  avoid  the  inference  that  they  were 
in  some  cases  connected  with  the  person  whom  they 
appeared  to  represent.  This  conclusion  in  the  case 
of  one  particular  type  of  apparitions,  those  appearing 
about  the  time  of  a  death,  was  supported  by  definite 
statistics.  Seeking  for  an  explanation  of  this  con- 
nection— since  it  is  no  longer  open  to  us  to  explain  it 
by  the  supposition  that  the  "  ghost "  left  the  body  at 
the  moment  of  death  and  revealed  himself  to  his 
friends — we  found  it  in  another  time-honoured  belief, 
the  belief  in  mental  action  at  a  distance.  We  traced 
back  this  belief  to  the  early  Chaldean  astrologers ; 
we  found  it  persisting  in  almost  every  race  of  man- 
kind and  almost  in  all  ages  of  the  world.  Out  of  a 
large  mass  of  evidence  for  its  operation  at  the  pre- 
sent day  we  have  cited  a  few  examples,  experimental 
and  spontaneous.  The  time  has  now  come  when  we 
must  put  our  theory  to  the  final  test.  If  ghosts  are 
really  hallucinations,  and  if  some  ghosts,  e.g.  those 
which  coincide  with  death  or  illness,  are  due  to  a 


EXPERIMENTAL  GHOSTS  91 

mental  shock  or  impact  transmitted  we  know  not 
how  from  the  sick  man  to  the  seer,  we  ought  to  find 
in  the  realm  of  nature  other  examples  of  hallucina- 
tions, not  necessarily  of  human  form,  apparently 
produced  by  the  same  hypothetical  agency;  and 
further,  since,  as  has  already  been  shown,  we  can  on 
occasion  produce  partially  developed  hallucinations 
experimentally  by  means  of  mental  suggestion,  and 
fully  externalised  hallucinations  of  human  figures  by 
means  of  verbal  suggestion,  we  may  reasonably  hope 
to  succeed  in  producing  such  fully  developed  hallu- 
cinations of  a  human  figure  by  means  of  mental 
suggestion  alone.  In  the  present  chapter,  a  few 
examples  will  be  given  under  each  of  these  heads. 

In  the  first  case  to  be  quoted  we  have  to  deal  with 
the  ghost  of  a  letter.  The  percipient  was  a  boy  of 
about  ten  years  of  age.  The  account  was  written 
by  his  mother  on  the  day  after  the  incident, 

No.  19. — From  Mrs.  Venn. 

3,  St.  Peter's  Terrace, 

Cambridge, 

January  9th,  1895. 

"January  8th,  I  came  down  to  breakfast ;  A.  was  sitting  at 
the  table,  Dr.  Venn  was  not  in  the  room.  Something  engaged 
my  attention  at  the  end  of  the  room,  and  standing  with  my 
back  to  the  table  I  said  :  '  Are  there  any  letters  for  me,  A.  ?' 
(The  letters  are  usually  on  or  by  my  plate.) 

"A.  *Yes,  one;  there  is  one.' 

M  [Mrs.  Venn]  *  See  who  it's  from  ;  do  you  know  ?' 

"A.  'It  has  the  Deal  postmark ;  it  is  from  Frances  (Venn)— 
for  you  or  me. ' 

"  Turning  round  I  saw  no  letter,  and  said :  '  I  see  no  letter,  A. 
What  are  you  talking  about  ?  Have  you  hidden  it  ?' 

"  A.  *  Unless  my  eyes  deceive  me,  there  is  a  letter,  as  I  said.' 

"  Going  up  to  the  table  to  look,  I  found  none,  and  said : 
1  There  is  none.  You  shouldn't  invent  things ;  you  shouldn't 
say  things  just  as  if  they  were  true,  when  they're  not !'  (No 
doubt  a  valuable  observation.) 

"A.  'Well,  I  didn't.  There  was  one,  or,  at  any  rate,  my 
eyes  seemed  to  see  one  just  as  I  told  you,  with  the  Deal  post- 
mark and  Frances'  writing ;  but  I  don't  know  if  it  was  to  you 
or  me.  I  couldn't  read  the  writing  from  here.  I  know  there's 
none  now.'  Subject  dropped  purposely. 


92  THE  NEW  VIEW  OF  GHOSTS 

"  This  was  at  9  o'clock.  Returning  at  10  o'clock  into  the 
hall,  the  second  post  having  just  come,  the  servant  had  just  put 
one  letter  on  the  hall  table ;  it  was  to  A.  from  Frances  and 
bore  the  Deal  postmark,  as  A.  had  said.  She  had  been  at 
Frant  and  we  did  not  know  she  had  returned  home  and  were 
not  expecting  to  hear  from  her.  Another  cousin  wrote  gener- 
ally. There  was  nothing  of  any  note  in  the  letter.  It  was 
given  to  A.  at  the  end  of  his  lessons  with  the  remark — *  Here 
is  the  letter,  you  see,  after  all. ' 

'Yes,'  he  said,  indifferently,  not  a  bit  interested,  his  mind 
full  of  something  else,  '  I  often  do  see  things  like  that,  you 
know  I  do.' 

"  A.  was  with  his  tutor  when  the  second  post  came,  and  the 
letter  was  taken  in  by  the  servant  and  laid  on  the  hall  table 
before  me — there  was  no  possibility  of  his  having  hid  it ;  and 
he  wouldn't  have  cared  to  do  it  in  any  case.  We  never  take 
any  notice  to  him  of  his  saying  anything  of  the  sort. 

"S.  C.VENN." 

Dr.  Venn,  F.R.S.,  who  was  told  of  the  incident 
before  the  letter  was  given  to  A.,  adds  his 
confirmation. 

In  the  next  narrative  we  meet  with  the  ghost  of  a 
dog.  Many  persons  are  inclined  to  believe  that  dogs 
have  ghosts  as  well  as  men  and  women.  Perhaps 
they  are  right.  But  in  this  case  the  dog  was  as 
imaginary  as  the  ghost  itself. 

No.  20.— From  M.  Isidore  de  Solla. 

5  Harrington  Square,  N.  W. 

February  5th,  1896. 

"As  promised,  I  now  send  an  account  of  my  little  thought 
transference  experience.  'Twas  thus — I  sat  opposite  my  eldest 
daughter  who  was  reading  a  book  by  the  fireside.  Presently  I 
exclaimed,  'Good  gracious!'  My  daughter  saying,  'What  is 
it  ?'  I  replied,  '  I  could  have  sworn  I  saw  a  dog  enter  the 
room. '  I  described  the  dog  minutely.  My  daughter,  in  great 
surprise,  told  me  that  she  had  at  that  moment  read  a  descrip- 
tion of  just  such  a  dog.  I  do  not  know  the  title  of  the  book. 
We  kept  no  dog  at  the  time  nor  had  we  conversed  about  one." 

In  a  later  letter  Mr.  de  Solla  adds : 

March  8th,  1896. 

"  The  incident  re  Thought  Transference  between  my  daughter 
and  myself  took  place  on  a  Sunday  evening  about  a  year  ago. 
My  daughter  would  be  willing  to  give  an  account  of  the  matter. 
She  does  not  remember  my  giving  a  detailed  description  of  the 
dog,  but  simply  that  I  exclaimed,  *  I  just  saw  such  a  big  dog 


EXPERIMENTAL  GHOSTS  93 

rush  into  the  room.1  My  daughter  tells  me  that  immediately 
before  my  explanation  she  had  read  the  following  words  from 
a  book  (Lewis  Arundel),  *  As  he  spoke,  he  uttered  a  low,  peculiar 
whistle;  in  obedience  to  his  signal  a  magnificent  Livonian 

Wolfhound sprang  into  the  room.' 

11  It  is  not  a  common  experience  of  mine  to  imagine  I  see  any- 
thing anywhere  which  is  not  tangibly  present,  and  I  am  very 
sceptical  about  other  folk's  reports  about  such  things."* 

The  vision  in  this  case  lasted  for  a  moment  only, 
but  Mr.  de  Solla  seems  to  have  had  no  doubt  at  the 
time  of  the  reality  of  the  experience.  As  illus- 
trating the  dreamlike  nature  of  hallucinations  we 
may  compare  with  the  last  account  a  case  in  which 
the  vision  was  repeated,  lasting  on  each  occasion  for 
some  appreciable  time,  but  inspiring  apparently  no 
conviction  of  reality.  Though  the  narrator  tells  us 
that  he  awoke  to  see  the  vision,  and  though  his 
account  of  the  matter  is  to  some  extent  confirmed 
by  the  fact  that  the  apparition  seemed  actually  to 
occupy  a  definite  position  with  relation  to  the  furni- 
ture, it  is  clear  that  the  consciousness  was  still  in  a 
dreamlike  condition.  The  original  account  appeared 
in  the  English  Mechanic  and  World  of  Science,  of 
7th  October,  1887. 

No.  21.— From  Mr.  W.  H.  Shrubsole. 

"  I  had  a  son — a  lad  of  sixteen — at  sea,  in  the  capacity  of  an 
apprentice  on  board  a  British  barque.  One  night,  while  in  bed, 
I  suddenly  awoke,  and  saw  with  great  distinctness  an  appari- 
tion of  the  upper  half  of  my  son  stretched  out  on  his  back  on  a 
flat  surface  by  the  bedside.  He  appeared  as  if  in  his  usual 
working  dress,  and  I  saw  his  features  without  the  slighest 
obscurity.  He  was  apparently  writhing  in  pain,  and  yet  unable 
to  do  more  than  move  his  head  a  little.  Although  I  seemed  to 
see  him  close  to  me,  I  yet  felt  that  1  was  powerless  to  help, 
and  this  sense  of  inability  caused  me  extreme  mental  distress. 
After  a  while  the  vision  faded,  and  a  period  elapsed  that  I 
cannot  correctly  estimate.  Then  I  again  saw  his  form,  prone 
as  before,  and  with  the  features  still  indicating  great  pain ; 
but  this  time  it  was  at  the  opposite  end  of  the  room. 

[In  a  letter  dated  25th  April,  1894,  Mr.  Shrubsole  explains 
that  there  were  two  wardrobes  in  different  parts  of  the  room, 
and  that  the  figure  on  its  successive  appearances  seemed  to 
occupy  a  shelf  first  in  one  of  these  wardrobes,  then  in  the 
other.] 

*  Journal^  S.P.R.,  April,  1896. 


94  THE  NEW  VIEW  OF  GHOSTS 

"The  consciousness  of  inability  to  relieve  still  possessed  me, 
till  the  vision  faded  and  I  fell  asleep.  On  awaking  in  the  morn- 
ing I  had  a  clear  recollection  of  the  painful  vision,  and  for 
weeks  I  could  not  shake  off  the  impression  that  my  son  had 
sustained  some  serious  injury.  At  last,  to  my  great  relief,  a 
letter  from  him  came  to  hand.  In  it  was  narrated  rather  briefly 
how  he  had  fallen  to  the  deck  in  consequence  of  the  breaking 
of  a  rotten  rope  on  which  he  was  hauling,  and  that  in  conse- 
quence he  was  totally  helpless  for  more  than  a  week.  I  had  not 
recorded  the  exact  date  of  the  vision,  but  as  nearly  as  I  could 
make  out  at  the  time  of  reading  the  letter,  the  date  correspond- 
ed with  that  of  the  accident.  On  his  return  home,  I  eagerly 
asked  my  boy  for  the  particulars  of  the  occurrence,  taking  care 
not  to  put  leading  questions,  and  to  keep  him  ignorant  of  my 
experience  till  he  had  told  me  all.  I  learned  that  he  was 
stunned  by  the  concussion,  and  that  the  first  thing  he  was  con- 
scious of  was  that  some  persons  were  lifting  him  up.  Finding 
him  helpless,  they  laid  him  down  again  on  the  deck.  The 
captain  presently  came  and  asked  him  if  any  bones  were  broken, 
to  whicn  he  could  only  indistinctly  reply.  Then  the  captain 
told  some  one  to  draw  him  to  one  side  of  the  deck,  and  said 
that  he  would  come  all  right  in  a  few  hours.  The  poor  lad 
remained  there  without  attention  until  some  sympathetic 
member  of  the  crew  carefully  lifted  him  from  where  he  was 
lying  and  carried  him  to  his  bunk  in  the  deckhouse,  where  he 
lay  for  eight  days.  Making  further  enquiry,  and  taking  the 
chronological  difference  into  account,  I  found  that  the  accident 
happened  at  an  hour  when  I  am  usually  in  bed.  Having  thus 
stated  the  facts,  I  direct  attention  particularly  to  the  coinci- 
dence (1st)  in  time  of  the  accident  and  of  my  consciousness  of 
it ;  (2nd)  that  my  son  lay  for  some  time  in  two  different  places, 
and  that  the  apparition  was  thus  seen  by  me,  and  (3rd)  that  he 
felt  most  pain  in  his  head  and  upper  part  of  back,  and  this  was 
evident  to  me  at  the  time.'1 

Sheerness-on-Sea.  W.  H.  SHRUBSOLC. 

The  conduct  of  the  Captain  on  this  and  other 
occasions  led  to  legal  proceedings,  and  from  an 
affidavit  made  by  the  son  on  May  23rd,  1889,  we  find 
that  the  incident  took  place  on  March  7th,  1887. 
The  exact  time  relation  between  the  accident  and  the 
vision  cannot  now  be  determined.  The  two  did  not 
apparently  coincide,  as  stated  by  Mr.  Shrubsole  (he 
had  reckoned  the  difference  in  longitude  the  wrong 
way),  but  it  seems  clear  that  the  vision  came  before 
Mr.  Shrubsole  knew  of  the  accident  by  normal 


means.* 


Journal,  S.P.R.,  June,  1895. 


EXPERIMENTAL  GHOSTS  95 

We  must  now  turn  to  the  experimental  production 
of  telepathic  hallucinations.  The  earliest  case  with 
which  we  are  acquainted  is  recorded  in  a  book  pub- 
lished in  1822,  Der  Magnetismus  und  die  allgemeine 
Weltsprache.  Herr  Wesermann,  the  author,  was 
government  assessor  and  chief  inspector  of  roads  at 
Diisseldorf.  His  book  was  written  at  a  time  when 
Animal  Magnetism  or  Mesmerism  was  making  a 
great  sensation  in  Germany.  Having  collected 
numerous  instances  of  community  of  sensation, 
clairvoyance  and  similar  wonders,  Wesermann  deter- 
mined to  experiment  for  himself  in  impressing  his 
thoughts  on  his  neighbours.  His  first  five  experi- 
ments were  so  extraordinarily  successful  as  to  be 
worth  quoting  in  full.  In  four  cases,  it  will  be  seen, 
the  impression  emerged  in  a  dream.  In  the  fifth  it 
resulted  in  a  waking  hallucination  which  was  shared 
by  two  persons. 

No.  22. 

First  Experiment  at  a  distance  of  five  miles. 

"  I  endeavoured  to  acquaint  my  friend  the  Hofkammerrath  of 

G •  (whom  I  had  not  seen,  and  to  whom  I  had  not  written 

for  thirteen  years)  with  the  fact  of  my  intended  visit  by  present- 
ing my  form  to  him  in  his  sleep  through  the  force  of  my  will. 
When  I  unexpectedly  went  to  him  on  the  following  evening  he 
evinced  his  astonishment  at  having  seen  me  in  a  dream  on  the 
preceding  night."  , 

Second  Experiment  at  a  distance  of  three  miles. 

"Madame  W.,  in  her  sleep,  was  to  hear  a  conversation 
between  me  and  two  other  persons  relating  to  a  certain  secret, 
and  when  I  visited  her  on  the  third  day  she  told  me  all  that  had 
been  said  and  showed  her  astonishment  at  the  remarkable 
dream." 

Third  Experiment  at  a  distance  of  one  mile. 

"An  aged  person  in  G was  to  see  in  a  dream  the  funeral 

procession  or  my  deceased  friend  S. ;  and  when  I  visited  her 
on  the  next  day  her  first  words  were  that  she  had  in  her  sleep 
seen  a  funeral  procession,  and  on  enquiring  had  learnt  that  I 
was  the  corpse.  Here  then  was  a  slight  error." 

Fourth  Experiment  at  a  distance  of  one-eighth  of  a  mile. 
"  Herr  Doctor  B.  desired  a  trial  to  convince  him,  whereupon 
I  represented  to  him  a  nocturnal  street  brawl.    He  saw  it  in 
his  dream  to  his  great  astonishment." 


96  THE  NEW  VIEW  OF  GHOSTS 

Fifth  Experiment  at  a  distance  of  nine  miles. 

"A  lady,  who  had  been  dead  five  years,  was  to  appear  to 

Lieutenant n  in  a  dream  at  10.30  p.m.  and  incite  him  to  good 

deeds.    At  half-past  ten,  contrary  to  expectation,  Herr n 

had  not  gone  to  bed,  but  was  discussing  the  French  campaign 

with  his  friend  Lieutenant  S in  the  ante-room.     Suddenly 

the  door  of  the  room  opened,  the  lady  entered  dressed  in  white, 

with  a  black  kerchief  and  uncovered  head,  greeted  S with 

her  hand  three  times  in  a  friendly  manner;  then  turned  to 
n,  nodded  to  him,  and  returned  again  through  the  doorway. 

11  As  this  story,  related  to  me  by  Lieutenant n,  seemed  to 

be  too  remarkable  from  a  psychological  point  of  view  for  the 
truth  of  it  not  to  be  duly  established,  I  wrote  to  Lieutenant 

S ,  who  was  living  six  miles  away,  and  asked  him  to  give 

me  his  account  of  it.     He  sent  me  the  following  reply: — 

"'....  On  the  13th  of  March,  1817,  Herr n  came  to  pay 

me  a  visit  at  my  lodgings  about  a  league  from  A .     He 

stay.ed  the  night  with  me.    After  supper,  and  when  we  were 

both  undressed,  I  was  sitting  on  my  bed  and  Herr n  was 

standing  by  the  door  of  the  next  room  on  the  point  also  of 
going  to  bed.  This  was  about  half-past  ten.  We  were  speak- 
ing partly  about  indifferent  subjects  and  partly  about  the 
events  of  the  French  campaign.  Suddenly  the  door  out  of  the 
kitchen  opened  without  a  sound,  and  a  lady  entered,  very  pale, 

taller  than  Herr n,  about  five  feet  four  inches  in  height, 

strong  and  broad  of  figure,  dressed  in  white,  but  with  a  large 
black  kerchief  which  reached  to  below  the  waist.  She  entered 
with  bare  head,  greeted  me  with  the  hand  three  times  in  com- 
plimentary fashion,  turned  round  to  the  left  towards  Herr n, 

and  waved  her  hand  to  him  three  times ;  after  which  the  figure 
quietly,  and  again  without  any  creaking  of  the  door,  went  out. 
We  followed  at  once  in  order  to  discover  whether  there  were  any 
deception,  but  found  nothing.  The  strangest  thing  was  this, 
that  our  night-watch  of  two  men  whom  I  had  shortly  before 
found  on  the  watch  were  now  asleep,  though  at  my  first  call 
they  were  on  the  alert,  and  that  the  door  of  the  room  which 
always  opens  with  a  good  deal  of  noise  did  not  make  the 
slightest  sound  when  opened  by  the  figure.  S.' " 

D n,  January  llth,  1818. 

The  hallucinatory  nature  of  the  phantasm  in  this 
case  is  clear.  It  is  only  by  accident,  indeed,  that  the 
apparition  came  in  the  percipient's  waking  hours, 
instead  of  in  dream  as  Wesermann  intended;  and 
the  figure  was  not  even  Wesermann's  own,  but  one 
shaped  in  his  imagination.  Wesermann  appears  to 
have  made  further  experiments,  some  of  which,  as 
might  have  been  anticipated,  were  unsuccessful,  but 


EXPERIMENTAL  GHOSTS  07 

unfortunately  no  details  of  his  later  trials  have  been 
published.* 

In  the  course  of  the  last  twenty-five  years  several 
successful  experiments  of  the  kind  have  been  tried, 
the  percipients,  of  course,  being  in  every  case  kept 
in  ignorance  of  the  experiment.t 

One  case  of  the  kind  may  be  quoted  in  which  the 
agent  achieved  a  result  which  he  did  not  foresee. 
The  account  was  procured  for  the  American  branch 
of  the  S.P.R.  by  Dr.  Holbrook,  who  is  acquainted 
with  the  persons  concerned  and  had  heard  of  the 
incident  some  years  before  it  was  written  down. 

No.  23.— From  Mr.  B.  F.  Sinclair. 

Lake  wood, 

June  12th,  1894. 

"On  the  5th  of  July,  1887,  I  left  my  home  in  Lakewood  to  go 
to  New  York  to  spend  a  few  days.  My  wife  was  not  feeling 
well  when  I  left,  and  after  I  had  started  I  looked  back  and  saw 
her  standing  in  the  door  looking  disconsolate  and  sad  at  my 
leaving.  The  picture  haunted  me  all  day,  and  at  night,  before 
I  went  to  bed,  I  thought  I  would  try  to  find  out  if  possible  her 
condition.  I  had  undressed,  and  was  sitting  on  the  edge  of 
the  bed,  when  I  covered  my  face  with  my  hands  and  willed  my- 
self in  Lakewood  at  home  to  see  if  I  could  see  her.  After  a 
little,  I  seemed  to  be  standing  in  her  room  before  the  bed,  and 
saw  her  lying  there  looking  much  better.  I  felt  satisfied  she 
was  better,  and  so  spent  the  week  more  comfortably  regarding 
her  condition.  On  Saturday  I  went  home.  When  she  saw 
me  she  remarked,  '  I  don't  know  whether  I  am  glad  to  see  you 
'or  not,  for  I  thought  something  had  happened  to  you.  I  saw 
you  standing  in  front  of  the  bed  the  night  (about  8.30  or  before 
9.0)  you  left,  as  plain  as  could  be,  and  I  have  been  worrying 
myself  about  you  ever  since.  I  sent  to  the  office  and  to  the 
depot  daily  to  get  some  message  from  you.'  After  explaining 
my  effort  to  find  out  her  condition,  everything  became  plain  to 
her.  She  bad  seen  me  when  I  was  trying  to  see  her  and  find 
out  her  condition.  I  thought  at  the  time  I  was  going  to  see 
her  and  make  her  see  me. 

B.  F.  SINCLAIR." 

*  See  the  letter  in  Nasse's  Zeitschrift  fur  psychische  Aratet  TO!  Hi, 
P-  758. 

f  See  the  cases  quoted  in  Phantasms  of  the  Living,  vol.  i,  pp.  95,  104, 
109;  also  the  Author's  Apparitions  and  Thought  Transference,  pp.  226- 
246,  and  The  Naturalisation  of  the  Supernatural,  pp.  112-119. 

G 


98  THE  NEW  VIEW  OF  GHOSTS 

Mrs.  Sinclair  writes : — 

"  I  remember  this  experience  well.  I  saw  him  as  plain  as  if 
he  had  been  there  in  person.  I  did  not  see  him  in  his  night 
clothes,  but  in  a  suit  that  hung  in  the  closet  at  home.  It  made 
me  very  anxious,  for  I  felt  that  some  accident  or  other  had 
befallen  him.  I  was  on  the  rack  all  the  time  till  Saturday,  and 
if  he  had  not  come  home  then,  I  should  have  sent  to  him  to 
find  out  if  anything  was  wrong. 

H.  M.  SINCLAIR." 

Mr.  George  Sinclair,  the  son,  writes  that  he 
remembers  the  incident  well,  and  that  his  mother 
was  almost  crazy  until  his  father  returned  on  the 
Saturday  evening.* 

Space  will  not  permit  of  the  citation  of  further 
cases  of  phantasms  of  the  living.  In  the  next 
chapter  we  must  consider  what  conclusions  (if  any) 
may  be  drawn  tentatively  from  the  reported  cases 
of  phantasms  of  the  dead. 


Journal,  S.P.R.,  June  1895. 


GHOSTS  OF  THE  DEAD  99 


CHAPTER  VIII 

GHOSTS   OF   THE   DEAD 

So  far  we  have  endeavoured  to  show  that  the  life-  \ 
like  apparitions,  occasionally  seen  during  the  illness 
or  at  the  moment  of  death  of  the  persons  whom 
they  represent,  are  not  ghosts  but  hallucinations. 
But  though  hallucinations,  we  have  seen  reason  to 
believe  that  in  some  cases  they  may  be  really 
connected  with  the  person  whom  they  represent; 
that  they  are  waking  dreams  in  some  fashion  inspired 
by  his  thought.  But  if  apparitions  of  the  living  may 
be  inspired  by  the  thoughts  of  the  living,  may  not 
apparitions  of  the  dead  be  inspired  by  the  thoughts 
of  the  dead  ?  We  know  no  reason  why  they  should 
not  be.  Obviously  in  regions  where  the  wisest  of 
us  must  confess  his  complete  ignorance,  no  one  can 
be  justified  in  asserting  that  such  a  thing  as  the 
action  of  the  dead  on  the  mind  of  the  living  is 
impossible — or  even  improbable.  It  is  simply  a 
question  of  facts.  Do  the  facts  as  so  far  ascertained 
indicate  such  a  possibility,  or  do  they  not  ?  That  is 
the  question  which  we  must  consider  in  the  present 
chapter. 

In  the  first  place  we  must  note  that  evidence  of 
the  kind  required. is  likely  from  the  nature  of  the 
case  to  be  much  less  abundant  and  much  less 
conclusive  than  the  evidence  for  phantasms  of  the 
living.  For  in  these  days  of  telegraphy  we  know  of 
the  death  of  anyone  near  to  us  so  soon  after  the 
event  that  there  is  little  opportunity  for  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  hypothetical  connection  from  the 
dead  themselves,  since,  obviously,  we  cannot  lay 
stress  upon  dreams  or  hallucinations  occurring 
after  the  death  was  known  to  the  percipient.  Such 


100  THE  NEW  VIEW  OF  GHOSTS 

dreams  and  phantasms  must  be  dismissed,  as  being 
indistinguishable  from  purely  subjective  experiences; 
unless,  indeed,  they  purport  to  convey  information 
beyond  the  percipient's  knowledge,  or  furnish  other 
proof  indicating  an  origin  outside  his  own  mind. 

In  the  first  chapter  we  cited  several  cases  where 
the  figure  was  seen  after  the  death  of  the  person 
whom  it  represented.  In  two  of  the  cases — the 
figure  of  John  Blaney  seen  by  Mr.  Mordaunt  Gore 
Booth,  and  the  figure  of  Senor  Cavalcante  seen  by 
Frau  Rieken — the  interval  was  one  of  two  or  three 
hours  only.  In  such  a  case  we  should  not  be 
justified  in  assuming  that  the  telepathic  impulse 
came  from  the  mind  of  the  dead.  We  know  that 
crystal  visions  constantly  reproduce  impressions 
made  upon  the  percipient's  mind  hours  or  even  days 
before,  which  do  not  emerge  in  the  upper  conscious- 
ness until  the  reverie  induced  by  gazing  at  the 
crystal  furnishes  them  with  the  opportunity.* 
Recent  experiments  in  hypnotism — the  most  fruitful 
source  of  our  knowledge  of  the  phenomena  of  the 
subconscious  life — have  taught  us  that  impressions 
may  remain  thus  latent  for  days  or  weeks,  and 
ultimately  emerge  in  a  hallucination  or  be  shaped 
into  a  purposive  action.  It  is  not  unreasonable, 
then,  to  assume — and  we  should  hardly  be  justified 
in  any  other  assumption — that  the  slight  interval  in 
these  two  cases  between  the  death  and  the  hallucina- 
tion may  have  been  due  to  impressions  received  from 
the  dying  person  lying  latent  until  the  conditions 
were  favourable  for  their  emergence  into  the  surface 
consciousness.  A  hallucination  may  be  described 
generally  in  Myers*  words  as  a  message  sent  from 
the  subconscious  strata  to  the  upper  consciousness, 
and  all  such  messages  must  wait  until  the  wires  are 
clear,  and  the  operator  at  the  other  end  disengaged. 

But  there  are  a  few  well  authenticated  cases  in 
which  the  first  news  of  the  death  of  a  friend  has 

*  See,  for  instance,  the  Article  on  Crystal  Vision  by  X,  (Miss  Goodrich 
Freer),  Proceedings,  S.P.R,,  vol.  v.,  p.  486, 


GHOSTS  or?1  THE  DEAD  101 

been  conveyed  to  the  percipient  by  a  hallucination, 
or  what  is  for  the  present  purpose  the  same  thing,  a 
dream,  occurring  many  days  after  the  event.  Such 
is  Case  No.  5,  quoted  in  the  first  chapter,  where 
Mr.  Tandy  saw  the  apparition  of  Canon  Robinson. 
A  case  similar  in  many  respects  to  Mr.  Tandy's  may 
be  quoted  here.  It  has  the  advantage  of  being 
authenticated  by  contemporary  entries  in  a  diary 
which  Mr.  F.  W.  H.  Myers  was  allowed  to  inspect. 

No.  24.  From  Mr.  Cameron  Grant.  Mr.  Grant 
was  at  the  time  in  the  interior  of  Brazil.  On  the 
25th  December,  1885,  his  diary  has  the  following 
entry : — 

"  There  was  something  on  my  mind  all  day  and  yesterday — 
a  sense  of  a  death  or  loss  of  some  one  dear  to  me.  I  spoke  to 
E.G.  [Mr.  Catlin,  the  Manager]  about  it :  and  I  don't  know 

how  it  is,  but  as   I  wrote  the  above, [a  member  of 

Lord  Z.'s  family]  has  been  constantly  in  my  thoughts." 

The  next  writing  in  the  diary  relating  to  the 
subject  occurs  on  the  26th  January.  1886: — 

"  Impression  about  1  o'clock,  and  dreaming  and  reasoning 
therefrom  on  death." 

On  the  following  day,  the  27th  of  January,  there 
is  an  entry  as  follows  : — 

"Very  tired,  but  did  not  sleep  a  wink  all  night.  I  am  sure 
that  something  has  happened  to  [a  member  of  Lord  Z.'s 
family].  I  heard  every  hour  strike,  and  kept  thinking  of  [all 
the  members  of  the  family]  but  not  of  the  dear  old  gentleman 
[i.e.,  imagining  them  in  sorrow,  but  not  Lord  Z.  himself].  I 
got  up  and  wanted  to  draw  him.  His  features  seemed  before 
me.  I  had  before  shown  Mr.  Catlin  a  face  in  the  Graphic  that 
was  like  him,  also  that  of  a  dead  man.  I  had  the  greatest 
difficulty  not  to  draw  his  portrait  with  his  head  forward  and 
sunk  on  his  breast,  as  if  he  had  been  sitting  in  a  room  with  a 
window  on  his  right  hand  and  an  old  man-servant ; — and  then 
his  head  just  went  forward,  and  he  fell  asleep.  Weeks  ago  I 
thought  of  him-j-some  time  about  Christmas  ;  and  ever  since 
I  have  been  feeling  [pity,  etc.,  for  members  of  family]." 

Now  on  the  24th  December,  1885,  as  it  afterwards 
appeared,  Lord  Z.  died ;  and  on  the  28th  January, 
the  day  following  the  last  entry,  Mr.  Grant  received 
a  Scotch  newspaper  from  which  he  learnt  the  fact 


102  THE  NEW  VIEW  OF  GHOSTS 

of  the  death.  It  afterwards  appeared,  from  his 
conversations  with  Lady  Z.  and  other  members  of 
the  family,  that  his  impression,  which  in  his  original 
account  is  described  at  some  length  and  was  definite 
enough  for  him  to  draw  it,  accurately  corresponded 
with  the  scene  of  the  death  itself.  But  this  is  not 
the  point  in  the  case  to  which  attention  is  here 
directed.  The  significant  point  is  that  two  impres- 
sions, as  attested  by  the  diary,  were  received  by  Mr. 
Grant,  one  on  the  day  of  the  death,  the  other  a 
month  later,  just  before  receipt  of  the  newspaper.* 

We  have  other  accounts  of  a  dream  or  other 
indication  of  a  death  occurring  at  a  considerable 
interval  after  the  event,  but  immediately  before 
receipt  of  the  news.  Thus  Mrs.  Haly  one  morning 
saw  the  shadowy  figure  of  a  nephew  in  her  room, 
and  received  news  of  his  death  in  Australia  by  the 
morning's  post.  Miss  Kitching  dreamt  on  the  23rd 
August,  1888,  of  the  death  of  her  brother  in  Algeria, 
and  received  news  of  the  death  a  few  hours  later. 
The  death  had  taken  place  on  the  20th.  Mr.  George 
King,  on  December  2nd,  1874,  dreamt  of  his  brother 
being  wrecked.  On  the  following  morning  the 
newspapers  contained  an  account  of  the  foundering 
of  his  brother's  ship,  which  had  taken  place  on 
November  29th.  There  are  other  cases  of  the  kind, 
and  they  are  sufficiently  numerous  to  suggest  a 
connection  between  the  dream  and  the  newspaper, 
letter  or  telegram  which  immediately  follows  it. 
Such  a  connection  is  scarcely  to  be  reconciled  with 
the  assumption  that  the  dream  warning  proceeded 
from  the  mind  of  a  dead  man.  But  it  can  be 
explained  if  we  assume  that  knowledge  of  the  death 
had  reached  others  in  the  vicinity  of  the  dreamer  a 
few  hours  before,  and  that  their  thought  inspired  his 
dream.  We  know  unfortunately  too  little  of  the  cir- 
cumstances to  work  out  this  theory  in  detail.  But 
it  is  fair  to  assume  that  Mrs  Haly's  nephew  had 

*  See  the  fuller  account  in  Proceedings,  S.P.R.,  vol.  viii.,  pp    013-3* 
The  remarks  within  brackets  are  interpolated  by  Mr.  Myers. 


GHOSTS  OF  THE  DEAD  103 

other  friends  in  England,  and  that  news  of  the  death 
may  have  reached  them  the  previous  evening  by  the 
same  mail;  in  Mr.  King's  case,  the  foundering  of  the 
ship  would  have  been  known  at  least  in  the  printing 
office  and  by  the  owners  of  the  vessel.  Mr.  Grant 
and  Lord  Z.  may  have  had  common  friends  in  Brazil, 
who  may  have  learnt  of  the  death  from  the  news- 
papers a  day  or  two  before  Mr.  Grant.  In  Miss 
Kitching's  case  news  of  the  death  was  conveyed  by 
a  telegram  which  had  been  intentionally  held  over  in 
New  York.  The  source  of  the  dream  in  this  case 
may  perhaps  be  sought  in  the  mind  of  the  person 
who  despatched  the  telegram. 

The  nature  of  the  impression  made  upon  Mr. 
Grant's  mind  would  again  point  to  some  such  source. 
His  thoughts  are  filled,  not  with  the  death  of  Lord  Z., 
but  with  the  sorrow  of  the  surviving  members  of  the 
family.  There  are  other  narratives  in  which  again 
we  should  naturally  look  for  the  origin  of  the  tele- 
pathic impulse  in  the  mind  of  the  survivors.  No.  12, 
where  Mr.  Elliott  saw  in  a  dream  a  letter  announcing 
the  date  of  the  death,  is  a  case  in  point.  So  is  the 
case  in  which  the  death  of  a  baby  is  represented ;  or, 
as  in  one  narrative  published  by  the  S.P.R.,  the 
death  and  details  of  the  funeral  arrangements.* 

An  interesting  dream  published  in  Phantasms  of 
the  Living  may  be  cited  in  this  connection.  About 
March,  1857,  Mrs.  Menneer,  in  England,  dreamt  that 
she  saw  her  brother  standing  headless  at  the  foot  of 
her  bed,  with  his  head  on  a  coffin  by  his  side.  The 
dream  was  at  once  told,  but  its  exact  date,  was,  un- 
fortunately, not  recorded.  It  afterwards  appeared 
that  the  brother,  Mr.  Wellington,  at  about  the  date 
of  the  dream  had  been  killed  and  decapitated  by  the 
Chinese  at  Sarawak.  It  is  difficult  to  account  for 
this  dream  on  the  hypothesis  of  telepathy  from  the 
dying  man.  It  does  indeed  at  first  sight  suggest  the 
agency  of  the  dead.  But  it  was  afterwards  ascer- 
tained that  Mr.  Wellington's  head  was  given  up  to 

*  See  the  Author's  The  Naturalisation  of  the  Supernatural,  pp.  213-4. 


104  THE  NEW  VIEW  OF  GHOSTS 

his  friends  on  the  following  day ;  and  it  is  to  their 
minds  that  we  naturally  look  for  the  source  of  this 
realistic  dream  vision.* 

In  short,  while  there  are  many  cases  which  directly 
indicate  that  the  source  of  a  dream  of  death  must  be 
sought  rather  in  the  mind  of  the  surviving  friends 
than  in  that  of  the  dead  man  himself,  it  is  clear  that 
the  possibility  can  rarely  be  excluded.  The  dreams 
of  finding  drowned  persons,  and  especially  the  dream 
of  W.  Moir  already  referred  to,  are  so  far  almost  the 
only  examples  which  do  not  readily  lend  themselves 
to  this  interpretation,  and  these  cases  are  clearly  too 
few  and  too  obscure  to  warrant  us  at  present  in 
basing  any  hypothesis  upon  them. 

Nor  again  can  the  action  of  the  dead  be  safely 
inferred  from  a  simultaneous  impression  of  the  dead 
man's  presence  received  by  two  or  more  persons 
independently.  Let  us  take  a  case  in  which  four 
persons,  independently,  within  a  period  of  about 
twelve  hours  had  impressions  relating  to  a  dead 
person. 

No.  25. — The  case  was  originally  communicated  to 
the  Society  for  Psychical  Research  by  a  member, 
Mr.  M.  A  young  lady  of  his  acquaintance,  L.F.,  had 
died  in  November,  1905,  at  the  age  of  about  eighteen. 

Not  long  after  her  death,  while  travelling  and 
dozing  with  his  eyes  shut  in  a  railway  carriage,  Mr. 
M.  saw  her  face  in  a  sort  of  mind's-eye  vision.  It 
appeared  perfectly  distinct  and  life-like,  and  seemed 
to  smile  and  look  at  him.  The  sight  startled  him  into 
complete  wakefulness,  and  the  vision  impressed  him 
a  good  deal,  because  it  seemed  to  him  quite  unique 

in  his  experience He  mentioned  this  incident 

to  Mrs.  F.,  L.'s  mother,  but  he  believed  that  the  rest 
of  the  family  did  not  know  of  it.  On  March  19th, 
1906,  he  and  Mrs.  F.  were  at  the  station,  seeing  her 
sister,  Miss  P.,  off  for  Scotland,  and  remembering 
his  own  experience,  he  hoped  that  a  similar  one 

*  See  Phantasms  of  the  Living,  vol.  i,  p.  365,    Proceedings^  S.P.R., 
vol.  viii,  p.  308,  and  the  'i  imcs,  2910  April,  1857. 


GHOSTS  OF  THE  DEAD  105 

might  occur  to  her  on  the  journey.  This  wish  was, 
of  course,  only  expressed  mentally ;  he  said  nothing 
about  it  either  to  Miss  P.  or  to  Mrs.  F.,  and  did  not 
hear  till  some  time  later  from  Mrs.  F.  that  it  had 
been  fulfilled.  The  sequel  will  be  found  in  the 
following  narratives. 

From  Mrs.  F. 

28th  April,  1906. 

"On  Sunday  evening,  March  25th,  about  8.30,  I  was  sitting 
alone.  I  saw  my  daughter's  photograph  (who  passed  away  in 
November).  I  felt  her  presence  but  did  not  see  anything. ' 

Mrs.  F.,  writing  on  April  20th,  adds  that  on  the 
Monday  [March  26th]  Mr.  M.  told  her  of  a  dream 
relating  to  L.  which  he  had  had  on  the  previous 
night;  and  that  on  the  Tuesday  she  received  letters 
from  her  sister  Miss  P.  and  her  daughter  Mrs.  A. 
recounting  similar  experiences.  The  original  letters 
have  unfortunately  been  destroyed;  but  both  ladies 
have  written  later  accounts 

From  Mr.  M. 

1st  April,  1906. 

"About  a  week  or  ten  days  ago  [Mem.  April  23/06. — I  have 
every  reason  to  believe  that  the  night  of  my  dream  referred  to 
was  that  of  Sunday,  March  25/06]  I  dreamt  that  I  was  in  a  sort 
of  cellar  with  other  people,  Mrs.  F.  being  near  me  on  my  right. 
At  my  right  front  was  somewhat  like  the  corner  of  a  brick  wall. 
There  were  bricks  in  the  structure  of  the  cellar.  This  wall  ran 
directly  into  the  background,  but  on  the  right  there  was  space 
communicating  with  where  I  was.  I  seemed  to  be  at  a 
spiritualist  seance.  A  form  appeared  in  front  of  me — I  was 
facing  to  the  background — but  slightly  to  my  right.  As  it  be- 
came definite  I  said,  *  Why,  it's  L.  I '  She  replied  in  a  joyous 
lively  way,  '  Of  course  it  is.'  She  seemed  absolutely  natural, 
and  the  picture  of  health.  The  complexion  was  of  the  pink  of 
health.  I  made  an  exclamation  and  my  voice  partly  woke  me 
up,  and  I  knew  that  I  was  in  bed.  Then  I  made  some  remark 
asking  her  to  show  herself  to  her  mother.** 

From  Mrs.  A. 

April  18th,  1906. 

"  I  was  lying  on  the  sofa  resting  on  Sunday  afternoon, 
March  25th,  when  I  seemed  to  see  L.  come  into  the  room. 
She  put  her  head  between  the  curtains  with  such  a  roguish 
smile  on  her  face,  and  then  came  striding  in  and  sat  down  on 
a  chair  with  her  hands  oo  her  knees  in  quite  her  old  natural 


105  THE  NEW  VIEW  OF  GHOSTS 

way.  I  was  quite  wide  awake,  which  made  it  seem  all  the 
more  forcible,  and  really  I  felt  her  presence  so  much  that  I  sat 
up  to  speak  to  her.  Immediately  afterwards  I  went  to  my 
bedroom  and  she  was  with  me.  Often  when  I  am  alone  she 
seems  to  be  with  me." 

From  Miss  P.,  written  on  May  13th,  1906.* 
"  On  March  19th  I  was  travelling  to  Scotland.  I  was  alone 
in  the  carriage  some  time  between  three  and  four  o'clock  in 
the  afternoon.  I  closed  my  eyes  for  some  time.  While  doing 
so  L.  appeared  to  me.  She  wore  her  navy  blue  and  looked 
just  as  she  used  to  do.  She  laughed,  looked  bright,  and 
disappeared.  A  week  later,  on  March  26th,  between  one  and 
two  in  the  morning,  I  saw  her  again.  She  was  in  grey 
with  scarlet.  She  just  looked  at  me  in  her  old  way.  I  was 
awake  but  lying  on  my  bed.  I  did  not  know  [Mrs.  A.]  and 
Mr.  M.  had  also  visions  of  her." 

It  is  difficult  to  ascribe  the  occurrence  of  these 
four  almost  simultaneous  visions  to  pure  coincidence. 
But  on  the  other  hand,  it  clearly  would  not  be  safe 
to  argue  the  influence  of  the  dead  girl.  Miss  P.'s 
vision  on  the  19th  of  March  may  have  been  inspired 
by  Mr.  M.'s  wish,  and  the  four  visions  or  dreams  of 
March  25th-26th,  may  have  had  a  common  source  in 
the  minds  of  the  survivors.  It  would  seem  in  fact 
that  in  no  case  of  the  kind  can  we  hope  in  the  pre- 
sent state  of  our  knowledge  to  find  definite  proof  of 
the  influence  of  the  dead.  The  possibility  of  tele- 
pathy from  the  living  blocks  the  way,  and  must  con- 
tinue to  do  so  until  we  are  in  a  position  to  say  that 
telepathy  could  not  have  acted  in  the  given 
circumstances.  We  cannot  escape  from  our  own 
shadows. 

A  substantial  advance  would  have  been  made, 
however,  in  the  direction  of  obtaining  the  desired 
proof,  if  we  could  find  that  phantasms  of  the  dead 
reveal  things  probably  unknown  to  any  living  person. 
There  are  a  few  cases  where  it  it  is  difficult  to 
suppose  that  the  facts  communicated  by  the  dream 
or  daylight  phantasm  can  have  been  within  living 

*  Miss  P.  had  written  of  her  dream  to  her  sister,  Mrs.  F.,  immediately 
after  it  occurred,  but,  as  said,  the  letter  was  destroyed.  On  the  5th  April 
she  wrote  a  briefer  but  entirely  concordant  account.  Seo  the  full  account 
of  the  case  in  Journal,  S.P.R.,  October,  1906. 


GHOSTS  OF  THE  DEAD  107 

knowledge.  The  discovery  of  the  bodies  of  drowned 
persons  has  been  already  discussed.  A  few  other 
cases  will  be  found  in  the  Proceedings  of  the  Society 
for  Psychical  Research.*  But  most  of  the  recorded 
cases  are  remote  in  date,  or  uncorroborated,  or 
suffer  from  some  other  evidential  defect.  The  well 
authenticated  examples  of  this  type  are  very  few, 
and  even  in  these  some  other  possible  explanation 
of  the  facts  is  generally  indicated. 

There  is,  however,  one  particular  type  of  phantasm 
of  the  dead  which  is  supported  by  several  well 
attested  examples,  in  which  the  appearance  of  the 
vision  seems  to  be  determined  by  the  influence  of 
the  locality.  The  following  narrative  will  serve  to 
illustrate  the  type. 

No.  26.— From  Mrs.  Verrall.     1906.1 

Mrs.  Verrall  was  on  a  visit  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Z. 
On  the  Sunday  morning  she  received  in  church  the 
impression  of  a  figure  which  lasted  during  the 
greater  part  of  the  service.  On  coming  out  of  church 
she  described  what  she  had  seen,  and  Mr.  Z. 
immediately  took  down  the  following  notes  of  her 
description. 

"  Mrs.  Verrall  came  to  us  at  A.  for  a  short  visit  on  Friday 
(date  given)  in  the  present  year.  It  was  her  first  visit  to  this 
place.  On  the  following  Sunday  morning,  immediately  after 
we  returned  from  church,  she  gave  to  Mrs.  Z.,  Dr.  Verrall,  and 
myself  the  description  given  below  of  a  phantom  figure  which 
she  had  seen  while  in  church.  The  following  notes  of  her  de- 
scription were  taken  down  by  me  immediately,  and  no  suggestion 
as  to  the  identity  of  the  phantom  was  made  by  any  of  us  until 
the  description  was  completed." 

Description  of  phantom  figure  seen  by  Mrs.  Verrall. 
" '  Soon  after  entering  the  church  felt  a  strong  impression 
that  something  was  going  to  happen.     First  appearance  of 
visionary  figure  was  shortly  after  the  service  began.    The  figure 

*  Especially  vol.  vi,  pp.  13-65,  314-357;  vol.  viii,  pp.  170  and  252,  See 
also  Mr.  Myers'  Human  Personality,  and  the  Author's  The  Naturalisation 
of  the  Supernatural,  pp,  213-244. 

f  Dates  as  well  as  names  are,  by  request  of  Mr,  Z,,  suppressed  in  this 
account.  Mrs.  Yen-all's  narrative  was  written  within  a  few  days  of  the 
incident.  But  Mr.  Z.'s  notes,  it  will  be  seen,  were  written  within  an  hour 
or  two  of  the  vision. 


108  THE  NEW  VIEW  OF  GHOSTS 

was  that  of  a  tall,  aristocratic-looking  man — not  a  soldier  or 
clergyman — seen  three-quarter  face,  from  the  left.  It  was 
standing  near  the  vestry  door,  looking  down  the  church.  Had 
a  feeling  that  it  was  appropriate  that  he  should  be  where  he 
was ;  he  seemed  to  be  associated  with  the  locality,  not  with 
any  person. 

" '  The  shoulders  seemed  not  to  be  quite  wide  enough  for  the 
height.  Face  Iqngish,  with  nothing  very  distinctive  about  it : 
nose  longish,  skin  of  face  darkish  and  sallow.  Age  40  to  45. 
Face  suggested  that  of  Mr.  Q.,  but  was  better  looking.  Wore 
moustache,  beard,  and  whiskers.  Moustache  not  large; 
whiskers  short ;  beard  not  long,  nor  very  thick,  but  squarish, 
and  following  lines  of  face.  Colour  of  beard,  brown.  Hair 
brown,  smooth  on  head,  but  standing  loose  round  face :  might 
be  thick,  curly  hair,  cut  rather  short. 

"  *  Figure  wore  black  frock-coat,  with  long  skirts,  grey 
trousers,  grey  tie,  of  silk  material,  hanging  full  and  loose, 
plainly  visible  below  short  beard.  The  general  appearance  was 
that  of  a  well-groomed  man.  A  pince-nez  of  gold,  with  curved 
spring,  hung  by  a  cord  on  right  side  of  body. 

"  '  Right  arm  hung  loose,  ungloved.  Left  arm  was  bent  at 
elbow  across  breast,  and  held  stiffly  :  the  hand  was  gloved,  and 
held  in  a  line  with  the  arm.  The  impression  of  this  hand  and 
arm  was  the  strongest  received. 

/"Had  an  impression  of  something  red  in  connexion  with 
him, — something  small.  This  was  not  visualised,  nor  located 
on  the  person.  The  form  of  the  thing  was  not  recognised, 
Felt  that  it  might  be  an  order  which  the  man  was  not  then 
wearing.' 

"  Here  Mrs.  Verrall's  description  ends. 

"Before  giving  this  description,  Mrs.  Verrall  asked  whether 
C.  D.,  a  person  (now  deceased)  known  to  her  by  name  as 
intimately  connected  with  the  place,  held  his  left  arm  in  any 
peculiar  fashion.  I  replied  that  he  did  not :  and  she  then  went 
on  to  relate  what  she  had  seen.  After  hearing  her  description 
of  the  figure,  I  suggested  that  it  might  be  E.  D.,  a  brother  of 
C.  D.,  and  also  deceased,  and  whom  I  have  never  seen  alive. 
I  made  the  suggestion  because  the  description  recalled,  in 
several  particulars,  the  head  and  face  of  an  engraved  portrait 
of  E.  D.  which  I  had  seen  in  this  neighbourhood.  I  may  add 
that  Mrs.  Verrall  had  had  no  opportunity  of  seeing  this  or  any 
other  portrait  of  E.  D.  I  have  none. 

"  On  the  following  day  I  took  Mrs.  Verrall  to  see  the  engraved 
portraits  of  C.  D.  and  E.  D.  She  at  once  confidently 
recognised  in  E.  D.  the  face  which  she  had  seen.  The  portrait 
w.as  brought  into  my  house,  and  Mrs.  Z.,  Dr.  Verrall  and 
myself  all  agreed  that  the  description  of  the  figure  seen  might 
well  have  been  the  description  of  the  portrait.  Dr.  Verrall  and 


GHOSTS  OF  THE  DEAD  109 

myself v  who  know  Mr.  Q.,  saw  that  it  was  natural  that  the  face 
seen  by  Mrs.  Verrall  should  remind  her  of  Mr.  Q.  ^ 

"  Within  the  next  few  days  I  found  from  inquiries  made  by 
Mrs.  Z.  and  myself  from  three  persons  interviewed  at  different 
times,  and  who  had  often  seen  E.  D.  during  his  lifetime,  that 
it  was  his  habit  to  carry  his  left  arm  bent  at  the  elbow  across 
the  breast.  I  also  discovered  that  he  was  a  tall,  thick- set  man, 
and  that  he  limped  with  the  left  leg,  having  (as  it  was  believed) 
broken  it  twice.  I  believe  that  it  is  common  with  people  who 
limp  with  one  leg  to  carry  the  corresponding  arm  across  the 
body  in  a  position  similar  to  that  seen  in  the  phantom  figure."* 

E.  D.,  Mr.  Z.  adds,  was  a  Member  of  Parliament 
who  died  about  twenty  years  ago.  Mr.  Z.'s  account 
is  confirmed  by  Mrs.  Z.  and  Dr.  Verrall. 

There  are,  as  said,  several  cases  of  this  type.  Thus 
Mr.  John  E.  Husband,  sleeping  in  a  hotel  in  Madeira, 
saw  an  apparition  of  a  young  man  in  flannels,  and 
subsequently  recognised  his  phantom  visitor  in  a 
photograph  of  a  young  man  who  had  died  in  the 
room  a  few  months  previously.!  Mrs.  O'Donnell 
when  staying  in  some  lodgings  in  Hove  saw  an 
apparition  which  was  identified  from  her  description 
as  resembling  that  of  a  former  lodger  who  had  com- 
mitted suicide  in  the  house  the  previous  winter.  J 
Again,  a  lady  taking  an  afternoon  nap  in  her  bedroom 
on  the  day  of  her  arrival  at  the  Convent  of  St.  Quay, 
Pontrieux,  awoke  to  see  the  figure  of  a  venerable 
priest  kneeling  at  her  bedside.  On  telling  her  story 
she  learnt  that  no  man  was  on  the  premises,  but 
from  her  description  the  figure  was  recognised  as 
that  of  the  Bishop  of  St.  Brieux,  who  had  been  in 
the  habit  of  staying  in  this  particular  room  when  he 
visited  the  convent.  The  funeral  of  the  Bishop  was 
taking  place  about  sixteen  miles  off  on  the  same 
afternoon.  § 

*  Journal^  S.P.R.,  July,  1906. 

\  Proceedings,  S.P.R.,  vol.  v,  p.  416. 

$  The  Naturalisation  of  the  Supernatural,  p.  249. 

§  Proceedings,  S.P.R.,  vol.  v,p.  466.  For  other  cases  of  the  type  see 
Mr.  Myers*  list  (ibid)  p.  473;  and  for  some  recent  instances  see  Miss 
Atkinson's  case  (Journal,  S.P.R.,  April,  1894),  Lady  Bedingfield's 
narrative  of  a  figure  seen  at  Costessey  Park  (Journal^  May,  1899),  and 
Miss  Bedford's  case  (Journal^  July,  1905). 


110  THE  NLW  VIEW  OF  GHOSTS 

Unquestionably  these  cases  lend  at  first  sight  some 
support  to  the  popular  conception  of  a  ghost,  as  an 
entity  having  visible  form  and  spatial  relations.  But 
the  aptness  of  the  explanation  evaporates  on 
reflection.  We  have  still,  if  we  adopt  the  ghost 
theory,  to  meet  the  great  clothes  difficulty;  and 
though  there  may  no  doubt  seem  to  be  some  fitness 
in  a  bishop  visiting  for  the  last  time  a  spot  he  had 
loved  when  on  earth,  or  in  a  suicide  haunting  the 
scene  of  his  unhappy  life,  it  is  not  so  easy  to  under- 
stand why  a  blameless  member  of  parliament  should 
pose  to  a  stranger  in  the  family  church.  It  is  not 
indeed  easy  on  any  theory  to  explain  the  connection 
of  the  phantasm  with  a  particular  locality.  But  it 
may  be  suggested  that  these  visions  were  possibly 
reflections  from  the  minds  of  those  who  had  known 
the  dead.  The  sorrowing  nuns  of  St.  Quay  might 
well  picture  in  their  thoughts  their  bishop  as  still 
present  in  the  room  which  they  associated  with 
him  in  his  lifetime.  The  friends  of  the  unhappy 
suicide  might  still  be  brooding  over  the  last  scenes. 
Those  who  had  known  the  member  of  parliament 
might  occasionally  call  up  the  vision  of  his  figure  in 
a  familiar  place  and  attitude.  And  the  presence  of 
a  sensitive  percipient  in  the  midst  of  the  scene 
pictured  in  their  imagination  might  somehow 
facilitate  a  telepathic  transference.  I  am  far  from 
suggesting  that  this  essay  towards  an  explanation  is 
satisfactory.  In  fact  it  is  easier  to  hint  a  psycho- 
logical explanation  than  to  attempt  to  conceive  one 
in  terms  of  neural  processes  and  cell-discharges. 

But  the  reports  are  there  ;  it  is  difficult  summarily 
to  dismiss  them  as  the  mere  random  products  of  illu- 
sion and  unconscious  misrepresentation  ;  and  they 
in  turn  help  to  illustrate,  and  will  ultimately  perhaps 
serve  to  explain  a  closely  allied  type — the  ghost  of 
the  so-called  haunted  house.  For  there  is  at  any 
rate  this  much  ground  for  the  belief  in  haunted 
houses,  that  there  are  indubitably  cases  in  which 
phantasmal  figures  have  been  repeatedly  seen  in 


GHOSTS  OF  THE  DEAD  111 

the  same  house  by  successive  observers,  some  of 
whom  have  apparently  been  in  complete  ignorance 
of  the  previous  appearances  of  the  ghost.  The 
Society  for  Psychical  Research  has  received  very 
many  reports  of  haunted  houses.  In  a  few  cases, 
where  opportunity  served,  the  Society  or  some  of 
its  leading  members  have  rented  for  a  short  period 
a  house  in  which  former  occupants  had  reported 
the  occurrence  of  inexplicable  sights  and  sounds.  A 
brief  summary  of  three  of  these  cases  will  serve  to 
show  what  a  real  ghost  is  like.  For  obvious  reasons 
the  actual  situations  of  the  houses  are  suppressed. 

No.  27. 

The  house  in  this  case  is  a  modern  one,  built  close 

upon  the  high  road  in  the  village  of  W ,  about 

40  miles  from  London.  We  have  the  evidence  at 
first  hand  of  three  curates  who  successively  occu- 
pied the  house ;  and  at  second  hand  of  the  landlady 
who  received  the  first  two  curates  as  lodgers,  and  of 
several  servants  and  others  employed  by  the  Rev. 
Mr.  V.,  who  occupied  the  house  with  his  wife. 

The  Rev.  H.  A.  S.,  writing  in  July,  1885,  tells  us 
that  he  occupied  lodgings  in  this  house  for  about 
twelve  months,  from  midsummer,  1871,  till  August, 
1872.  He  was  much  puzzled  and  disturbed  by 
sounds  of  footsteps  up  and  down  the  stairs  at  night ; 
but  saw  nothing  unusual. 

The  Rev.  E.  G.  P.  lodged  in  the  house  from 
December,  1872,  till  1875.  He  gave  us  an  account 
of  his  experiences  in  1885.  He  was  much  disturbed 
by  loud  and  inexplicable  noises  at  night — "  footsteps, 
loud  explosions,  sounds  like  the  falling  of  trays, 
stampings,  rustlings,  sounds  of  heavy  furniture  being 
moved,"  also  sighs  and  groans.  Once  he  heard  a 
sound  in  the  corner  of  his  bedroom  "like  the 
clashing  of  cymbals " ;  and  once  he  followed 
invisible  footsteps  down  the  stairs  into  the  dining- 
room,  "and  adjured  it  in  the  name  of  God.  There 
was  no  answer,  and  in  a  moment  or  two,  with  more 


112  THE  NEW  VIEW  OF  GHOSTS 

terror  than  I  had  ever  felt  before,  I  returned 
upstairs." 

Dr.  P.  himself  never  saw  anything  of  a  ghostly 
nature,  but  he  tells  us  that  an  old  friend  of  his  was 
staying  in  the  house  with  him  in  May,  1874,  on  the 
night  when  Dr.  P.  was  disturbed  by  unusual  noises 
and  followed  the  phantom  footsteps  downstairs.  The 
old  gentleman  was  much  agitated  at  the  time,  and  just 
before  his  death  in  December,  1875,  he  told  Dr.  P. 
that  he  had  on  that  night  seen  the  figure  of  a  tall 
man  in  a  grey  woollen  dressing-gown  standing  at 
the  foot  of  his  bed. 

Mrs.  H.,  the  landlady,  told  Mrs.  Henry  Sidgwick 
in  1885  that  she  had  constantly  heard  inexplicable 
noises  in  the  house.  On  one  occasion  only,  in  July, 
1878,  had  she  seen  the  ghost.  It  was  about  8  p.m. 
She  had  been  giving  her  husband — an  invalid — his 
supper  upstairs ;  the  servant  had  gone  out  to  fetch 
some  stout  for  her  own  supper ;  in  going  out  of  the 
room  Mrs.  H.  saw  a  tall  figure  standing  against  the 
door  opposite.  It  was  a  tall  figure  dressed  in  white 
— like  a  surplice.  She  did  not  see  the  hands.  It 
was  an  old  gentleman  with  a  bald  head,  fine  fore- 
head, and  beautiful  blue  eyes.  They  looked  straight 
into  each  other's  faces — she  caught  its  eyes — she 
looked  down  for  a  moment,  and  the  figure  had 
vanished.  Mrs.  H.  used  occasionally  to  hear  three 
heavy  sighs  in  the  house,  and  once  a  whisper  came 
at  the  foot  of  her  bed,  "  Three  more  stages  and  then 
death." 

The  Rev.  J.  F.  V.  gave  us  his  account  also  in  1885. 
He  and  Mrs.  V.  took  the  house  in  September,  1882, 
and  left  in  September,  1884,  because  Mrs.  V.'s 
health  was  seriously  affected  by  the  uncanny  sights 
and  sounds.  Mr.  V.  had  heard  from  Dr.  P.  of  the 
latter's  experiences  in  the  house,  and  had  been  in* 
clined  to  laugh  at  them.  Mr.  V.  himself  saw  nothing 
of  a  ghostly  nature  in  the  house.  But  he  heard  many 
terrifying  sounds,  as  of  the  clashing  of  fire-irons 
close  at  hand,  footsteps,  loud  crashes,  a  ringing 


GHOSTS  OF  THE  DEAD  113 

noise  as  of  metal  at  the  head  of  the  bedstead,  and 
"  an  agonised,  indescribable,  horror-stricken  moan." 
But  he  relates  many  apparitions  seen  by  others 
during  his  tenancy. 

Mrs.  V.  awake  in  bed  one  night  saw  a  man's  head 
and  part  of  his  body  in  a  white  dress,  coming  in 
through  the  half-open  door.  She  awakened  Mr.  V., 
who  saw  that  the  door  was  shut  and  did  not 
investigate. 

Sarah  S.,  a  servant,  on  going  up  at  9  p.m.  to  light 
her  mistress'  bedroom  fire,  saw  a  man  in  white 
come  out  of  the  dressing-room,  and,  brushing  past 
her,  disappear  into  a  cupboard  on  the  landing. 

About  9.30,  morning,  the  same  witness  saw  come 
out  of  the  dining-room  and  pass  into  the  drawing- 
room,  shutting  the  door  behind  it,  the  figure  of  a 
tall  woman  in  black,  wearing  a  dress  made  like  a 
sacque,  with  her  hair  upon  the  top  of  her  head.  She 
told  the  cook  and  Mrs.  V.,  and  fruitless  search  was 
made. 

Lizzie  P.,  the  cook,  on  April  9th,  1884,  "was  on 
her  way  to  the  lower  back-kitchen  when  suddenly  a 
figure  rose  up  in  the  doorway  before  her.  The 
figure  was  of  a  woman  in  a  long  black  dress,  a  face 
very  white,  eyes  shining  red,  like  a  ferret's."  It 
seemed  to  stand  and  look  at  her,  but  vanished  at  her 
terrified  cry.  The  only  exit  from  the  back-kitchen 
was  bolted.  The  cook  and  her  fellow-servant  were 
panic-stricken. 

Clara  M.,  about  4  p.m.  on  May  3rd,  1884,  heard 
footsteps  descending  the  stairs,  and  saw  through  the 
open  door  a  shadow  as  of  a  person  outside.  No 
living  person  could  be  traced. 

Annie  C.,  in  August,  1884,  about  9.30  p.m.,  was  with 
Lizzie  P.  in  the  spare  bedroom.  "  Annie  had  just 
been  to  the  cupboard  to  take  out  the  bath.  On 
going  to  the  bed  to  turn  it  down  she  faced  the  cup- 
board and  saw  a  man  in  white  standing  against  the 
black  clothes  which  were  hanging  there,  facing  her 


114  THE  NEW  VIEW  OF  GHOSTS 

and  looking  very  cross."  Lizzie  P.  saw  nothing, 
and  the  figure  vanished  when  Annie  cried  out. 

Mr.  V.  records  his  conviction  that  the  house  is 
"  under  the  influence  of  diabolical  agency,  or  of 
departed  spirits  who  have  not  found  rest." 

The  Society  for  Psychical  Research  took  the 
house  on  agreement  from  Lady  Day  to  Michaelmas, 
1885.  The  house  was  actually  occupied  during  ten 
or  eleven  weeks  of  this  period,  for  a  few  days  or 
weeks  at  a  time.  About  fifty  persons  slept  in  the 
house.  Nothing  unusual  was  recorded  except  that 
on  one  night  steps  were  heard  descending  the 
stairs,  and  on  investigation  the  back-door  was  found 
standing  open — probably  a  practical  joke  by  some 
villager. 

Mrs.  Henry  Sidgwick  and  Professor  Macalister, 
who  resided  in  the  house  for  short  periods,  have 
each  pointed  out  that  the  house  was  an  extremely 
noisy  one ;  and  that  since  it  faced  the  road  outside 
sounds  could  be  heard  very  distinctly  in  some  of  the 
rooms.  A  mysterious  stain  in  an  upper  room,  upon 
which  Dr.  P.  laid  much  stress,  was  ascertained  by 
Professor  Macalister  to  consist  of  paint.* 

No.  28. 

The  haunted  house  in  the  next  case,  situated  in  a 
country  village,  was  in  the  occupation  of  Miss  S. 
and  her  mother  from  the  summer  of  1884  until  the 
summer  of  1888.  The  case  is  remarkable  for  the 
number  and  variety  of  the  phenomena  and  the 
number  of  the  witnesses.  We  have  accounts 
at  first  hand  from  Miss  S.,  the  chief  narrator; 
Mrs.  S. ;  a  trustworthy  servant,  Emilie  Thorne ; 
her  sister,  Polly  Trays;  another  servant,  Mrs. 
Serpell;  and  three  visitors,  Miss  Auchmuty  and 
Miss  Blencowe,  of  Cheltenham,  and  Miss  Humble, 
of  St.  Heliers,  Jersey.  All  the  accounts,  except 
where  otherwise  stated,  were  written  between 
November,  1887,  and  March,  1888.  It  should  be 

*  Journal,  S.P.R.,  February,  1886. 


GHOSTS  OF  THE  DEAD  115 

added  that  from  the  careful  enquiry  made  it 
appears  that  two  of  the  witnesses,  Miss  S.  herself 
and  Mrs.  Serpell,  had  previously  seen  a  "  ghost "  or 
hallucination,  in  each  case  on  one  occasion  only. 
Miss  Humble  had  also  on  one  occasion  seen  a  figure, 
out  of  doors,  for  which  she  could  not  account;  but 
this  may  have  been  a  real  figure. 

Miss  S.  writes : — "  The  first  thing  that  struck 
us  as  peculiar  about  our  house  was  hearing 
footsteps  in  empty  rooms.  On  January  8th,  1885, 
we  had  been  in  the  house  about  six  months.  My 
mother  and  I  were  in  the  dining-room;  there  was 
one  maid  in  the  house,  and  no  one  else.  I  was  lying 
half  asleep  on  the  sofa.  I  heard  some  one  walking 
up  and  down  in  the  room  overhead,  which  was  then 
a  spare  bedroom  (now  the  drawing-room).  I  was 
too  sleepy  at  first  to  think  it  strange,  though  my 
mother  more  than  once  tried  to  call  my  attention  to 
it.  At  last  she  roused  me,  and  said  some  one  was  in 
the  house."  A  thorough  search  of  the  house  was 
made,  the  gardener  was  called  in  to  assist  and 
search  the  roof.  No  trace  of  any  intruder  was 
found.  After  this  date,  footsteps  were  frequently 
heard  at  all  hours  by  various  inmates  of  the  house. 
Doors  were  heard  and  sometimes  seen  to  open  and 
close  without  apparent  cause.  Mrs.  S.  heard  a  child 
laugh  and  clap  its  hands  behind  her  chair.  Loud 
bangs  were  heard,  and  sounds  of  blows  struck  with 
iron,  a  gruff  voice  speaking  inarticulately,  whis- 
perings, etc.,  etc.  A  figure  was  first  seen  by  Miss  S. 
"  One  afternoon,  about  half  past  four,  I  saw  a  fair 
haired  girl  standing  by  the  top  of  the  stairs.  It  was 
dark.  I  did  not  notice  her  face,  but  supposed  it  to 
be  the  maid ;  she  was  dressed  in  a  greyish  or  mauve 
dress."  Miss  S.  was  surprised  at  the  colour,  as  the 
family  were  in  mourning ;  investigated  at  once  and 
found  that  it  was  not  the  maid.  Miss  S.  did  not 
mention  what  she  had  seen,  but  later,  in  October, 
1886,  being  alone  in  the  house  with  her  friend  Miss 
Blencowe,  the  latter,  during  Miss  S'.  temporary 


116  THE  NEW  VIEW  OF  GHOSTS 

absence  from  the  room,  saw  "  the  figure  of  a  young 
girl,  dressed  in  a  lilac  print  dress,  about  5ft.  Sin.  in 
height,  standing  on  the  top  of  the  front  stairs." 
Miss  Blencowe  told  Miss  S.  on  her  return,  and  then 
learnt  of  the  previous  apparition.  Miss  S.  saw  the 
same  figure  again,  this  time  in  a  room  full  of  people, 
none  of  whom  shared  her  experience. 

On  the  morning  of  December  10th,  1887,  Emilie 
Thorne,  hearing  her  name  three  times  repeated, 
went  up  the  back  stairs  and  found  that  no  one  had 
called  her.  She  then  saw,  standing  at  the  top  of  the 
front  stairs,  a  figure  dressed  in  light  clothes,  which 
she  mistook  for  her  mistress.  When  she  found  out 
her  mistake  she  was  much  frightened.  Emilie 
Thorne  saw  a  similar  figure  on  several  other 
occasions. 

On  the  29th  of  December,  1887,  Mrs.  S.  says,  "I 
was  coming  down  the  attic  stairs  ....  a  girl  with 
fair  hair  in  a  lilac  dress  passed  me ;  she  looked  right 
into  my  face ;  she  was  very  pale,  and  had  something 
the  matter  with  one  of  her  eyes." 

Miss  Humble  writes  that  one  night,  when  staying 
in  the  house,  she  awoke  from  sleep  shortly  before 
midnight,  and  saw  by  the  firelight  the  figure  of  a 
woman  standing  close  to  her,  the  face  turned  away ; 
hair  half  falling  down  her  back,  "  dressed  in  a  sort  of 
loose  Garibaldi  body,  and  ordinary  gathered  skirt  of 
a  greyish  tint." 

At  the  end  of  December,  1887,  Mrs.  S.  says  that 
when  lying  awake  in  bed  she  saw  a  woman  with 
brown  hair  hanging  down  her  back,  "  she  had  on  a 
slate-coloured  silk  dress  and  a  red  kind  of  opera 
cloak." 

Miss  S.  saw  the  figure  of  a  woman,  "with  dark 
hair  and  wearing  a  red  (what  I  believed  to  be) 
dressing-jacket,"  bending  over  her  in  bed.  She 
thought  it  to  be  her  mother  and  kissed  her,  turning 
round  for  the  purpose. 

Bmilie  Thorne  writes: — "I  was  standing  in  the 
garden  one  Sunday  afternoon,  and  looking  up  at  the 


GHOSTS  OF  THE  DEAD  117 

attic  window.  I  saw  a  man,  a  dark  swarthy  looking 
man,  with  long  black  whiskers ;  his  coat  was  buttoned 
up  tight,  and  he  was  dressed  like  a  merchant  sailor. 
I  have  often  seen  that  man  in  the  same  place." 

Mary  Trays  (sister  of  the  last  witness),  writes  that 
she  saw  in  the  garden,  in  daylight,  a  figure  "like  a 
man  with  a  long  dark  beard."  Also  one  evening 
from  the  window  she  "  saw  a  white  figure  walk  up 
and  down  (in  the  front  garden),  and  I  was  frightened." 

Miss  Humble  writes  that  another  night  she  woke 
up  suddenly,  and  saw  "not  a  woman  but,  at  the 
corner  of  the  fireplace  furthest  from  me,  a  very  evil 
looking  man,  dressed  in  what  might  be  a  white 
working  suit.  The  eyes  were  dark  and  fixed  upon 
me,  and  I  own  I  was  frightened,  this  experience  was 
so  horrible." 

Mrs.  Serpell  writes  that  in  February,  1886,  she 
woke  with  a  start,  "  and  standing  quite  close  to  me 
was — well,  I  don't  know  what  it  was — but  the  most 
horrible,  devilish  face.  I  could  see  nothing  but  the 
face  and  hands,  which  kept  working  as  if  they  were 
trying  to  get  at  me  and  something  kept  them  back." 
She  made  the  sign  of  the  Cross,  said  her  prayers, 
and  the  figure  vanished — "  but  the  look  of  baffled 
rage  I  shall  never  forget." 

Lastly,  Miss  S.  tells  us  that  Winnie  Thorne  (aged 
12)  used  frequently  at  night  to  see  in  the  garden  the 
figure  of  a  man,  "  dark  face  and  whiskers  cut  high 
round  neck."  She  would  run  down  in  her  night- 
dress to  tell  her  sister.  Emilie  looked  but  could 
not  see  the  figure,  which  still  continued  visible  to 
her  sister. 

For  the  sake  of  brevity  I  have  omitted  from  this 
summary  the  accounts  of  the  instant  searches  and 
other  corroborative  evidence  tending  to  show  that 
the  various  figures  were  not  figures  of  flesh  and 
blood.  But  it  seems  practically  certain  that,  with 
one  or  two  possible  exceptions — e.g.,  the  white  figure 
seen  by  Mary  Trays  in  the  garden — the  figures 
seen  were  hallucinations,  or  possibly  in  some  cases 


118  THE  NEW  VIEW  OF  GHOSTS 

dreams.  In  August  and  September  the  house  was 
taken  by  a  member  of  the  Society,  and  several 
persons  went  to  stay  there  for  the  purpose  of 
observation.  Nothing  inexplicable  was  heard  or  seen 
by  any  member  of  the  party.  But  Mrs.  H.  Sidgwick, 
who  stayed  for  some  time,  found  the  house  both  noisy 
and  ricketty ;  sounds  and  movements  were  readily 
transmitted  from  one  part  to  another;  and  some 
of  the  sounds  testified  to  by  Miss  S.  and  others  were 
more  or  less  successfully  imitated. 

It  should  be  added  that  there  was  no  record  of 
the  house  being  "haunted"  before  1885,  and  that  no 
legend  is  attached  to  it. 

No.  29. 

Miss  L.  Morris,  writing  June,  1888,  relates  that 
she  went  in  October,  1882,  to  live  with  an  aunt  in  a 
small  terrace  house  in  the  south  of  England.  On 
the  first  night  of  their  tenancy,  and  for  many  nights 
in  succession,  they  were  disturbed  and  considerably 
frightened  by  the  sound  of  heavy  footsteps  and 
other  loud  noises.  About  5  p.m.  one  afternoon  in 
November,  1882,  when  it  was  still  light,  Miss  Morris, 
going  into  the  back  drawing-room  to  fetch  some 
music,  saw  standing  by  the  closed  door  the  figure  of 
a  woman  robed  in  the  deepest  black  from  head  to 
foot,  her  face  sad  and  pale.  Miss  Morris  uttered  a 
cry  and  the  figure  vanished.  She  told  no  one  what 
she  had  seen. 

In  the  winter  of  1885  she  again  saw  the  figure  of 
a  woman  in  black  walk  slowly  down  the  hall  in  front 
of  her  and  disappear. 

Throughout  their  occupancy  of  the  house,  which 
ceased  in  December,  1886,  Miss  Morris  was  con- 
tinually disturbed  by  bangs,  knockings  on  the  doors, 
and  other  loud  noises.  For  a  period  of  some  weeks 
the  front  door  bell  was  rung  so  constantly  that  they 
had  to  remove  it  from  the  wire.  Miss  Morris  had 
had  no  other  hallucinations. 

The  house  remained  empty  until  November,  1887, 
when  it  was  taken  by  Mrs.  G.,  widow  of  an  officer  in 


GHOSTS  OF  THE  DEAD  119 

the  Army,  and  her  two  daughters,  aged  about  nine 
and  ten. 

Mrs.  G.  was  disturbed  about  a  fortnight  after 
their  entering  by  sobs,  moans,  and  the  sound  of  a 
voice  saying,  '*  Oh  !  do  forgive  me."  Later  came 
the  tramping  of  feet  and  loud  noises  like  the  move- 
ment of  furniture.  Loud  knocks  were  also  heard  on 
bedroom  doors.  One  morning  Mrs.  G.  heard  her 
elder  daughter,  "  Edith,"  give  a  loud  scream,  and 
learnt  from  her  that  she  had  seen  a  dreadful  white 
face  peeping  round  the  door.  Both  children  were 
much  frightened  by  this  incident,  and  by  the  strange 
noises  which  they,  as  well  as  Mrs.  G.,  heard  at  night. 
Later  Edith  said  she  had  seen  a  little  woman  pass 
by  hen  and  that  she  often  heard  the  sound  of 
"pitter-patter."^  Again,  on  February  6th,  1888,  the 
younger  child,  "  Florence,"  said  that  on  passing  a 
room  she  saw  a  man  standing  by  the  window  staring 
fixedly.  He  had  blue  eyes,  dark  brown  hair,  and 
freckles.  (The  note  in  the  diary  of  this  incident 
runs,  "  [Florence]  saw  an  apparition  in  brown  at 
7.30  a.m.")  The  children  frequently  saw  lights  in 
their  bedroom,  and  Florence  once  saw  a  white  skirt 
hanging  down  from  the  ceiling.  On  March  25th,  on 
going  up  to  bed,  they  both  saw  a  figure  in  white. 
On  another  occasion  Florence  saw  a  figure  crawling 
on  the  floor,  as  if  it  would  spring  on  her. 

Mrs.  G.,  when  washing  her  hands  one  morning,  at 
about  10  a.m.,  saw  two  human  faces  at  her  elbow, 
which  vanished  instantly.  She  also  heard  a  voice, 
which  she  thought  was  her  child's,  cry,  "  Darling." 
The  children,  who  were  in  another  part  of  the  house, 
had  not  spoken. 

Finally,  on  May  8th,  as  the  children  were  nervous 
and  unwell,  Mrs.  G.  left  the  house,  a  servant 
remaining  behind,  with  her  mother  and  sister  to 
keep  her  company.  But  the  noises  which  they  heard 
at  night  so  frightened  them  that  they  also  had  to 
leave  abruptly. 

[The  above  account  by  Mrs.  G.  was  written  in 


120  THE  NEW  VIEW  OF  GHOSTS 

June,  1888,  but  most  of  the  incidents  were  recorded 
at  the  time  in  a  diary,  which  I  was  allowed  to 
inspect.] 

Anne  H.,  the  servant,  corroborated  Mrs.  G.'s 
statement  as  to  the  figures  seen  by  the  children  and 
the  noises  heard,  especially  after  Mrs.  G.'s  depar- 
ture. Anne  one  night  in  her  bedroom  saw  a  strange 
shadow,  which  went  right  along  the  window  and 
passed  on  to  the  wall  opposite. 

I  received  from  the  two  children,  in  July,  1888,  a 
viva  voce  account  of  their  experiences,  which 
agreed  with  that  given  by  Mrs.  G. 

Mrs.  G.'s  experiences  became  matter  of  common 
talk  in  the  town,  and  a  few  days  after  her  removal 
from  the  house  three  gentlemen  paid  visits  to  it  on 
two  different  occasions.  Two  of  these,  Mr.W.O.D., 
barrister,  and  the  Rev.  G.  O.  wrote,  in  July,  1888, 
that  on  May  23rd  they  heard  in  the  empty  house 
bell-ringing  and  an  unaccountable  crash.  Mr.  O. 
also  saw  indistinctly  a  column  of  misty  vapour. 
On  May  28th,  about  9.30  p.m.,  as  they  stood  in  the 
hall,  Mr.  O.  saw  a  form  glide  from  the  back  room  to 
the  front.  Mr.  D.  saw  only  part  of  the  dress  of  this 
"  supernatural  being."  After  Mr.  O.  had  said  prayers 
for  exorcism  and  rest  for  the  soul,  the  party  left. 

It  should  be  added  that  it  has  been  ascertained 
that  in  March,  1879,  a  woman  hanged  herself  in  the 
house.  Rumours  of  this  incident  appear  to  have 
reached  Mrs.  G.,  though  not  until  after  the  com- 
mencement of  the  disturbances. 

An  associate  of  the  Society  for  Psychical  Re- 
search occupied  the  house  with  his  wife  for  about 
thirteen  months,  and  about  forty  visitors  slept  in  the 
house  during  the  tenancy.  Nothing  abnormal  was 
seen  during  the  whole  period,  and  only  on  a  few 
occasions  were  unaccountable  noises  heard. 

One  other  case  may  be  briefly  referred  to  in 
which  the  phenomena,  in  themselves  by  no  means 
striking,  have  been  exhaustively  recorded  by  Miss 


GHOSTS  OF  THE  DEAD  121 

Goodrich  Freer,  in  collaboration  with  the  late 
Lord  Bute.* 

The  house,  a  shooting  lodge  in  Scotland,  appears 
to  have  earned  the  reputation  of  being  haunted 
from  some  tenants  who  occupied  it  in  1896.  The 
disturbances  consisted  of  sounds,  loud  thumps, 
footsteps,  heavy  knockings,  occasional  groans  and 
shrieks.  One  witness,  Father  H.,  told  the  late  Lord 
Bute  that  when  staying  in  the  house  he  had  seen, 
"  between  waking  and  sleeping,"  the  image  of  a 
Crucifix  somewhere  on  the  wall. 

The  house  was  taken  in  February,  1897,  by  Colonel 
Taylor  on  behalf  of  the  late  Lord  Bute  (both  mem- 
bers of  the  S.P.R.),  and  was  occupied  for  over  three 
months  (February  2nd  to  May  14th)  by  Miss  Freer, 
several  members  of  the  S.P.R.,  and  some  other 
persons.  Miss  Freer  kept  a  daily  journal  of  all  the 
inexplicable  happenings.  From  this  it  appears  that 
noises  of  various  kinds  were  frequently  heard  by 
several  members  of  the  party.  They  are  described 
as  loud  clangs,  knockings,  footsteps,  bangs,  percus- 
sive or  explosive  noises,  metallic  sounds,  voices  in 
conversation,  monotonous  reading,  sounds  of  heavy 
bodies  falling,  groans,  footsteps  of  an  old  man 
shuffling  in  slippers,  etc.  Miss  Freer  heard  the 
noises  first,  and  throughout  the  period  heard  them 
most  frequently.  Miss  Freer  also  on  several 
occasions,  always  after  nightfall,  saw  in  a  copse 
near  the  house,  on  the  further  side  of  a  small  burn, 
one  or  two  figures  in  nun's  dress.  One  other  lady 
and  one  man,  the  Rev.  M.  Q.,  after  they  had  heard 
what  Miss  Freer  had  seen,  and  when  in  her 
company,  also  saw  the  Nuns  under  similar  circum- 
stances. Several  persons  who  could  see  nothing 
heard  the  Nun  and  her  companion  conversing;  the 
sound  coming  to  them  through  the  sound  of  the 
murmuring  burn,  which  ran  between  them  and  the 
ghostly  figures.  Also  Mr.  Q.  saw  the  vision  of  a 
Crucifix. 

*  The  Alleged  Haunting  of  B House,  Second  Edition,  1900. 


122  THE  NEW  VIEW  OF  GHOSTS 

It  is  worth  while  having  an  exact  contempor- 
ary record  of  a  haunted  house  from  a  trained 
observer,  in  order  that  we  may  see  upon  how  very 
slight  a  foundation  some  of  these  stories  rest. 
There  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  noises  heard  at 

B House  were  based  upon  real  sounds,  distorted 

no  doubt  and  exaggerated  by  the  imagination. 
There  are  many  possible  sources  for  the  noises 
heard.  The  house  stands  in  a  well-known  seismic 
area ;  some  of  the  noises  may  have  been  due  to 
slight  earth  tremors,  or  to  the  gradual  "  settling  "  of 
the  house  consequent  upon  former  tremors.  Then 
there  was  a  system  of  hot  water  pipes,  which  was  in 
use  during  part  of  this  tenancy ;  and  some  at  least 
of  the  bedrooms  were  furnished  with  fixed  basins, 
which  had  pipes  communicating  with  the  open  air. 
Unfortunately  neither  Miss  Freer  nor  any  of  her 
party  appear  to  have  realised  the  importance  of 
making  accurate  observations  and,  where  possible, 
experiments  to  determine  how  far  the  noises  could 
be  traced  to  normal  causes. 

The  first  point  which  will  strike  the  critical  reader 
in  all  these  accounts  is  the  great  variety  in  the 
figures  seen.  The  popular  conception  of  a  ghost  is 
of  a  figure  appearing  in  a  definite  shape  and  with  a 
definite  purpose.  But  the  popular  conception  is  by 
no  means  borne  out  by  the  majority  of  the  well- 
attested  first  hand  records.  The  three  cases  cited 
may  be  taken  as  typical  in  this  respect.  In  the  first 
narrative  at  least  two  figures  are  described — a  tall 
man  dressed  in  white  or  grey  and  a  woman  in  black. 
In  the  second  narrative  we  have  at  least  four  figures 
— a  girl  in  a  lilac  print  dress,  a  woman  in  grey  with 
a  red  cloak,  a  dark  man  with  whiskers  dressed  like  a 
merchant  sailor,  and  an  evil-looking  man  dressed  in 
white  clothes  like  a  workman.  There  are  also  heard 
a  child's  laugh  and  footsteps.  Equally  various  are 
the  things  seen  in  the  third  house.  Miss  Morris  saw 
only  a  woman  in  black.  But  Mrs.  G.  and  her  children 
saw  several  other  figures  and  parts  of  figures. 


GHOSTS  OF  THE  DEAD  123 

But  there  is  another  point  worthy  of  notice.  The 
ghostly  visions  were  in  each  case  preceded  by 
inexplicable  noises,  interpreted  in  some  cases  as 
footsteps.  In  the  last  account  especially  stress  is 
laid  by  the  narrators  on  the  alarm  excited  by  these 
unexplained  sounds.  But  it  is  clear  in  the  other 
two  cases  that  the  noises  caused,  if  not  actual 
alarm,  at  least  uneasiness  and  anxiety.  In  this 
respect  also  the  three  stories  may  be  accepted  as 
typical.  In  most  authentic  ghost  stories,  it  may  be 
said,  the  appearance  of  the  ghostly  figure  is  preceded 
by  mysterious  noises.  Sometimes,  as  in  the  case  of 

B House,  the  haunting  may  be  said  to  consist 

exclusively  of  mysterious  sounds.  In  cases  27  and 
28  it  has  been  shown  that  the  house  was  found  by  a 
careful  observer  to  be  exceptionally  noisy.  This  is 
not  so  clearly  established  in  case  29,  though  it  should 
be  mentioned  that  in  this  case  there  was  a  railway 
embankment  not  far  off.  There  seems  good  reason 
for  thinking  that  at  any  rate  in  the  first  two  cases 
the  mysterious  sounds  which  first  excited  and  alarmed 
the  occupants  were  misinterpretations  or  imaginative 
exaggerations  of  real  sounds.  We  have  then  the 
following  sequence  of  events.  First:  loud  and' 
mysterious  sounds  probably  due  to  normal  causes. 
Second:  a  state  of  uneasiness  and  apprehension,  ' 
amounting  in  some  cases  to  actual  panic,  in  the 
occupants.  Third:  the  appearance  of  manifold  ; 
ghostly  figures,  sometimes  of  a  terrifying  character. 
The  sequence  is  repeated  again  and  again  in  the  best 
authenticated  narratives,  those  in  which  the  incidents 
are  recorded  near  the  date  of  their  happening,  and  it 
seems  permissible  to  suggest  that  the  sequence  is  a 
causal  one — that  real  sounds,  exaggerated  and  misin- 
terpreted, induced  in  nervous  persons  a  state  of 
uneasy  expectancy,  and  that  this  nervous  state  in  its 
turn  gave  rise  to  hallucinations.  We  find  a  some- 
what similar  state  of  nervous  expectancy  with  con- 
comitant hallucinations  at  some  Spiritualist  seances.  * 
But  the  subject,  it  must  be  admitted,  requires  further 


124  THE  NEW  VIEW  OF  GHOSTS 

investigation.  At  any  rate  we  have  here  a  possible 
explanation  of  at  least  nine  tenths  of  what  pass  for 
ghost  stories. 

But  the  explanation,  itself  only  tentative,  does  not 
cover  all  the  admitted  facts.  In  case  No.  7,  cited  in 
Chapter  I,  it  seems  clear  that  Miss  J.  A.  A.,  at  the 
time  when  she  saw  the  figure  of  a  child,  had  not 
heard  that  a  similar  figure  had  been  seen  in  the 
house  by  others.  In  the  second  of  the  cases  here 
quoted  (No.  28),  Miss  Blencowe,  who  apparently  had 
heard  no  details  of  Miss  S.'s  experience,  saw  a  similar 
figure  standing  in  the  same  spot.  The  same  feature 
occurs  in  a  few  other  cases — the  appearance  of  a 
figure  frequently  bearing  a  resemblance  to  a  figure 
previously  seen,  to  a  person  who  had  been  kept  in 
ignorance  of  the  previous  apparitions.  It  is  true  that 
people  may  in  the  course  of  years  forget  what  they 
have  been  told.  But  apart  from  the  improbability 
of  forgetting  such  an  exciting  incident  as  a  real  ghost 
seen  by  a  friend,  there  is  the  further  consideration 
that  in  many  cases  the  original  percipient  would  be 
unlikely  to  let  her  story  be  widely  circulated,  for  fear 
of  alarming  the  other  inmates,  especially  servants. 
On  the  whole  it  seems  reasonable  to  suppose  that 
the  accounts  given  may  be  in  the  main  correct ;  and 
that  a  similar  type  of  hallucination  may,  without 
any  verbal  suggestion,  recur  in  the  same  locality. 
Again,  as  in  the  case  of  the  apparitions  previously 
discussed — the  Bishop  of  St.  Brieux,  the  M.P.,  and 
so  on — we  are  driven  back  upon  the  hypothesis  of 
I  mental  suggestion.  But  it  need  scarcely  be  pointed 
out  that  the  vague  purposeless  nature  of  the  phan- 
tasm lends  no  support  to  the  view  that  the  suggestion 
emanates  from  the  mind  of  the  dead.  The  figure 
seen  is  as  lifeless  and  unreal,  for  the  most  part,  as 
a  magic-lantern  picture.  It  is  dreamlike,  anyway, 
and  commonsense  points  to  its  source  in  the 
dreams  of  the  living  whom  we  know,  rather  than  in 
the  imagined  dreams  of  the  unknown  dead. 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  facts  when  closely  invest!- 


GHOSTS  OF  THE  DEAD  125 

gated  lend  tittle  support  to  the  popular  conception  of 
a  ghost.  The  spirit  of  the  sensual  man,  still  hover- 
ing near  the  scene  of  his  earthly  joys,  the  repentant 
monk,  the  murderer  still  doomed  in  nightly  penance 
to  re-enact  his  crime,  the  soul  in  the  torture  of 
purgatory  who  comes  for  comfort  and  absolution — 
all  these  are,  it  would  seem,  but  figments  of  popular 
superstition.  The  real  ghost,  as  we  have  learnt  to 
know  him,  is  but  a  painted  shadow,  without  life  or 
meaning  or  purpose  —  the  baseless  fabric  of  a 
dream. 

But  the  investigation  of  these  curious  phenomena 
is  by  no  means  complete ;  and  though  they  should 
prove  to  be  wholly  born  of  earth,  these  ghosts  of 
the  living  and  of  the  dead  assuredly  illustrate  in  a 
striking  manner  the  mysterious  workings  of  the 
human  mind,  and  the  unsuspected  influence  of  soul 
on  soul.  They  are  meteors  which  throw  strange 
gleams  of  light  upon  the  structure  of  the  Cosmos  of 
which  they  form  a  hitherto  neglected  part.  Once 
more  we  see  the  justification  of  the  scientific  maxim, 
to  study  residual  phenomena. 


THB   BND. 


INDEX 


PAGE 

Adey,  Mr.  More     20 

Aerolites,  belief  in 49 

Alexander,  Prof.,  case  con- 
tributed by       12 

"Angus,"  Miss,  case  contri- 
buted by           ...  t      ...  45 
Anticoot  among  Esquimaux  41 
Apparitions,      not      semi- 
material  ghosts          ...  26 

Astrology      39-40 

Augear,  Mrs.  R.,  case  con- 
tributed by      41 

Australian  belief  in  ghosts  2 


B House,   description 

of  disturbances  in  121-122 
Bernheim,  Professor  ...  29 
Bishop  of  St.  Brieux, 

apparition  of   ...      109,  124 
Blencowe,  Miss       114,  115,  124 
Booth,    Lady    Gore,    case 
contributed  by    11,  24,  100 

Bute,  Lord 121 

"  Butler,"  Miss,  case  con- 
tributed by       82 


Census  of  hallucinations  32,  37 

Clairvoyance          77 

among  savages       41,  42 

in  hypnotism  42-44 

Clothes,  difficulty  in  ghost- 
theory    25 

Collective  apparitions  16,  95,  96 
Coote,    Mr.    H.    C.,    case 

contributed  by  ...     18 

Crystal  visions  44-46,  84,  85, 100 


PAGE 

Dead,  apparitions  of  the  99-125 

Dee,  Dr 44 

De  Solla,  Mr.  Isidore,  case 

contributed  by  ...    92 
Diaries  of  telepathic  inci- 
dents             81,  101 

Dog,  "ghost"  of 92 

Dreams,  their  nature 

26,  27,  68-79 

—  coinciding  with  death    69-71 

—  bodies  of  drowned  persons 

recovered  through       75-78 

—  of  Derby  winners         ...    75 
Ducane,    Miss,    case  con- 
tributed by      ...        ...    16 

Dufferin,  Lady,  case  con- 
tributed by  70 

Duke,  Dr.,  case  contributed 
by  81 


Egyptian  belief  in  ghosts...      1 
Elliott,   Rev.  E.  K.,  case 
recorded  by     ...       71,  108 

Ellis,  Mrs 29 

Ethereal  body        ...       ...    25 


Felkin,  Dr.  Andrew,  case 

recorded  by      41 

Freer,  Miss  Goodrich    121,  122 


Gibert,  Dr 59-63 

Gollin,   Miss,  case  contri- 
buted by          9 

Goodwin,    Dr.    H.,     late 
Bishop  of  Carlisle    ...    14 
126 


INDEX 


127 


PAGE 

Grant,  Mr.  Cameron,  case 
recorded  by  101 

Gravitation,  theory  of,  com- 
pared with  theory  of 
telepathy  ...  39,  48 

Gurney,  Edmund 29 


Hallucinations       ...          24-37 

akin  to  dreams  26-27 

as  memory  images   ...    28 

hypnotic          ...    28-30,  79 

coinciding  with  death  30-37 

census  of         ...           82-37 

of  pain 85 

telepathic,  experimen- 
tally induced  ...  95-98 

at  spiritualistic  seances  123 

Hansen  and  Lehmann, 
their  criticism  of  tele- 
pathy    52,  note 

Hey  singer,  Dr.  Isaac,  case 

recorded  by      41 

Hodgson,  Dr.         ...         59,  73 
Holbrook,    Dr.,  case  con- 
tributed by      ...         69,  97 

Homeric  ghosts     1 

"  Haunted  "  houses   18,  110-125 

occupied  by  S.P.R.  111-125 

variety  of  figures  seen 

in  ...  122 

inexplicable  sounds  in   123 

Humble,  Miss  114,  116,  117 
Hyperaesthesia  ...  52n,  53 
Hypnotism  ...28-30,  32,  79,  100 

clairvoyance  in  ...       42-44 

Hyslop,  Dr.,  case  contri- 
buted by  86 


James,  Professor  W.      52«,  77 

Janet,  Prof.  Pierre,  his  ex- 
periments in  telepathy 
at  a  distance  ...  59-63 

Jansen,  Herr,  experiments 

recorded  by  57 

Johnson,  Miss  Alice    50,  53,  54 


PAGB 

Kennedy,  Dr.  Harris,  case 
recorded  by     ...       ...    76 


Lang,  Mr.  Andrew          ...    45 
Latency  of  impression     ...  100 

Lodge,  Sir  Oliver 85 

Locality,    apparent    influ- 
ence of,  on  apparitions 

107-125 


M.,  Mr.,  case  recorded  by    104 
Macalister,  Professor      ...  114 
Maxwell,  the  alchemist    ...      2 
Me  Alpine,  Mrs.,  case  re- 
corded by        ...           7, 24 
Memory,  fallacies  of   4-6,  34-35 
Menneer,    Mrs.,    case   re- 
corded by        103 

Miles,  Miss  Clarissa,  and 
Miss  Ramsden,  experi- 
ments in  telepathy       63-67 
Morris,  Miss  L.,     ...      118,  122 
Myers,  F.W.H. 

11,  45,  59,  100,  101 


Naville,  M.,  his  record  of 

hallucinations 29 

Negro  belief  in  ghosts      ..,  2 

Notes  &  Queries 18 


Observation,  fallacies  of  ...    80 


P.,  Rev.  Dr.,  case  recorded 

by  Ill 

Pain,  hallucination  of  ...  85 
Perception,  fallacies  of  4,  5,  47 
Phasmatological  Society  of 

Oxford 20 

Plato,  his  view  of  ghosts...      2 


128 


INDEX 


PAGE 

Psychical  Research, 

Society  for,  7,  24,  32,  59,  75 
81,  107,  111,  114,  120 

—  haunted  houses  occu- 
pied by  111-125 


Quackenbos,      Dr.,     case 
recorded  by     ...        ...    43 


Ramsden,  Miss, 

See  Miles,  Miss 

Richet,  Professor  ...         60,  84 
Rieken,  Frau,  case  recorded 

by  ......  13,  24,  100 

Robinson,  Mr.  B.  E.,  case 

recorded  by      ......    85 

Robinson,  Mrs.,    case  re- 

corded by         .....  -    73 


Savages,  belief  in  ghosts 
among    ...        ...        1-3, 25 

clairvoyance  among    41-42 

Sea-serpent,  compared  with 
ghosts    ...        ...        3-4, 24 

Shrubsole,  Mr.  W.  H.,  case 
recorded  by     ...        ...    93 

Sidgwick,  Mrs.  Henry 

17,  18,  50,  114,  118 

Professor     32,  50,  52, 114 


PAGE 

Sinclair,  Mr.  B.  F.,  case 
recorded  by  97 

Sleep  at  distance,  induced 
by  telepathy  ...  59-63 

Soul  as  quasi-material      1-2,  25 

Sounds,  inexplicable,  in 
"  haunted  "  houses  ...  123 


Tandy,   Rev.  G.  M.,  case 
recorded  by         14,  24,  101 

Telepathy     38 

—  theory  of,  compared 
with  theory  of  gravita- 
tion    39,  48 

experimental  ...         47,  67 

at  distance 

54,  59-67,  95-98 

Terriss,  William,  his  death 
foreseen  in  dream      «.    79 

Testimony,  fallacies  of     ...  4-6 


Vampires      ...        ...        ...  2 

Van  Helmont         ...        ...  40 

Venn,  Mrs.,  case  recorded 

by  ... 91 

Verrall,  Mrs. ,  case  recorded 

by           107 


Wesermann,  Herr,  his  ex- 
periments in  telepathy 
at  a  distance  ...  95-96 


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